Cuttack, March 22: Excitement of the World Cup has peaked with India getting into the semis. In this moment of cricket mania it is only appropriate to turn the spotlight on an aredent enthusiast of the game Saroj Ranjan Kar.

The 43-year-old businessman is an avid collector of cricket memorabilia. He is eagerly waiting to complete his unique collection of autographs of various players in the ongoing World Cup.

Kar had managed to collect the autographs of the Indian team led by Kapil Dev that won the World Cup in 1983. He also has the autographs of the Indian players who emerged champions in 2011.

Like millions of cricket fans all over the country, the enthusiast collector, who has come up with a mini museum, wants India to retain the World Cup that it had won four years ago.

Kar also has an enviable collection of World Cup jerseys and autographed caps of various Indian players including Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla and Yuvraj Singh.

However, it is the autographed picture of Mahendra Singh Dhoni holding the World Cup and Man of the Match trophy that Kar is proud of.

"Collecting anything and everything that is associated with the World Cup is special. It is my passion and love for the game of cricket. Cricketers inspire me," said Kar. He will soon add special bats signed by Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Steve Waugh to his collection.

Cricket enthusiasts from the city are now making a beeline to get a glimpse of the unique collection of these autographed pictures, jerseys and other cricket memorabilia.

"At Kar's mini museum one can find photographs, match tickets, match wickets of various cricket tournaments. These mementos are not that easy to collect in a cricket-crazy nation like ours. We are happy to get an opportunity to see the autographs of the cricketers," said Abhipsa Das, a cricket fan.

Collection of old bats that were used between 1918 till the 1960s attracts a lot of visitors. A pair of gloves that was used in the 1987 World Cup hosted in India and Pakistan looks like a relic from the past due to the continuous changes in the cricketing gears over the last few years.

Kar has a huge collection of 22 autographed bats mostly by cricketers from Indian, South Africa, England, West Indies and Australia.

Earlier, Kar had hogged the limelight by completing his thematic collection of postage stamps and first-day covers on the World Cup from its inaugural edition in1975. A first-day cover carrying the photograph of all the players with the autographs of the 1983 winning team stands out among his collection.