It was not just his ability to bat against all the odds, it was the character. Ups and downs are part of any sportsman’s career. But for Bradman, off-form was almost a myth.
Mumbai and Puducherry are busy playing Vijay Hazare Trophy today in Jaipur. Led by Prithvi Shaw, Mumbai batsmen thumped the Puducherry bowlers to score 458/4. Shaw slammed 227 not out in 152 balls. As is often the case with big scores, writers will be tempted to use the word Bradmanesque to describe the innings.
What is Bradmanesque? Collins English Dictionary has a definition: ‘Bradmanesque (adjective): (of a batsman or innings) reminiscent of Sir Don Bradman in terms of dominance over the opposing bowlers.’
Such is the aura of Don Bradman, the greatest to have played the game ever, even after 72 years. His numbers – 29 hundreds in 52 Test matches, that average of 99.94 – can never be matched. And beyond the numbers was the character and the impact. After Bradman’s retirement, RC ‘Crusoe’ Robertson-Glasgow wrote in Wisden: ‘Don Bradman will bat no more against England, and two contrary feelings dispute within us: relief, that our bowlers will no longer be oppressed by this phenomenon; regret, that a miracle has been removed from among us.’
Bradman debuted for Brisbane against Percy Chapman’s England team during the first Test match of the 1928-29 Ashes. Batting at number seven and six. he scored 18 and 1 in the match. Australia lost the match by 675 runs, and Bradman was dropped for the only time in his career. Once he was recalled for the third one at Melbourne, he scored 79 and a hundred. Since then, there had been no looking back for ‘The Boy from Bowral’.
Source: Twitter (IPL)
Bradman scored 29 hundred in just 52 Test matches. That is less than two Tests per hundred. Some of these deserve special mention.
Bradman scored both his Test Triple hundreds at Headingley. During his 334 on Day 1 in 1930, he reached his first hundred before lunch, second hundred before tea, and the third before the end of the day’s play.
He even scored a century during the 1932-33 infamous Bodyline series and maintained an average of 56.57 when none of his teammates barring Stan McCabe crossed 40. While this was a significant dip from his career average, it is higher than the averages of some of the giants of the sport.
One of his most remarkable hundreds came in the third Test on a sticky Melbourne pitch during the 1936/37 Ashes. Bradman reversed the batting order, promoting tail-enders and eventually coming out to bat at seven. He scored 270 and added 346 with Jack Fingleton, who scored 136. Australia put up 564, won the match, and won the next two Test matches to clinch the series after being 0-2 down.
At forty, Bradman defied medical advice to travel to England for the final tour of his 20-year-long illustrious career in 1948. He led a formidable squad that remained unbeaten throughout the tour to earn the moniker of The Invincibles. They won the Test series 4-0. The schedule was demanding, but Bradman rotated his stars to ensure they were kept fresh.
In his last Test match, Bradman needed four runs to finish with a Test average of 100. Unfortunately, he was dismissed on the second ball for a duck. Australia won by an innings, so there was no final outing for him. His career average of 99.94 has attained such iconic status that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation still uses 9994 as their PO Box.