What made Sir Don Bradman so special?
August 27th marks to be the birth anniversary of Sir Donald Bradman who is regarded as the greatest batsman to have graced the game. Bradman’s Test batting average of 99.94 is often dragged in discussions about him but the Australian was much more than that. His Test career was a combination of consistency, marathon knocks and inspiring leadership. Speaking about batting records, the Aussie ended his Test career a boundary short of 7000 runs even though he played only 80 innings.
The fastest player to reach 7000 Test runs till date is Steve Smith who took 126 innings for the milestone. The difference of 46 innings would have been enough for Bradman to add another 4000 runs. Those 80 innings Bradman played were enough for him to smash 12 double centuries which is still a record. He was also the first player in Test cricket to score multiple triple centuries, a feat which has been replicated by three players in the last couple of decades.
An inspirational captain
The greatness of Don Bradman the batsman ensured his achievements and skill in leading the Australian team were lesser spoken. Bradman made his captaincy debut in the 1936-37 home Ashes series where the Aussies were 0-2 down after the first two Tests. Bradman led the fightback by reversing the batting order in the next Test and smashed 270 from 375 balls while batting at No.6.
The Aussie skipper produced scores of 212 and 169 in the following two Tests to ensure the hosts took the series 3-2. This effort by the Bradman-led side remains as the only instance in Test history of a team winning a series after being 0-2 down. The Australian team under Bradman turned out to be an unbeatable one in the 1940s.
Coming back from the World War II gap, Bradman stood as captain in 15 games across three-Test series where Australia won as many as 11 matches while the other four ended in a draw. Bradman bid adieu to his Test career during the 1948 tour of England where Australia lost none of the 34 matches played through the tour. This unbeaten spree helped Bradman’s Australian side to earn the tag of “The Invincibles”.
