- Wednesday, December 04, 2024
Bradman gave this cap to Pankaj Gupta, India’s manager for the 1948 series, which was also the visiting side’s first international tour as an independent country
By: Shajil Kumar
SIR DON BRADMAN’S iconic baggy green cap fetched a staggering $250,000 (£197,409.20) after the rare piece of cricketing history was put up for auction in Sydney on Tuesday.
Auction house Bonhams said Bradman wore the cap – almost 80 years old – during India’s 1947-48 tour of Australia, his last Test series on home soil.
The auction described the cap as “sun faded and worn”, with “some insect damage” and “some loss to (the) edge of (the) peak”.
In an auction lasting 10 minutes, a flurry of bidding pushed the price from a starting point of $160,000 to a winning offer of $250,000.
The total cost was $310,000 (£244,787.41) once “buyer’s premium” fees were tacked on.
Widely regarded as cricket’s greatest-ever batter, Bradman amassed 715 runs in six innings at an average of 178.75 in that Test series against India, with three centuries and a double hundred as Australia won 4-0.
Bradman, who died aged 92 in 2001 and averaged an astounding 99.94 runs per Test innings, gave the particular cap to Pankaj Gupta, the visiting side’s manager for the 1948 series, which was also India’s first international cricket tour as an independent country.
Gupta passed on the cap to the Indian team’s wicket-keeper PK Sen.
The legendary batter holds the record for most double hundreds in Test cricket (12) and the joint highest triple centuries (2).
Bradman’s cap had been on loan since 2010 to the Bradman Museum in the cricketer’s hometown of Bowral.
It was purchased by the current owner in 2003, Bonhams said.
Bradman played his last Test against England in 1948 at the Oval and needed to score only four runs in his final innings to finish with a career average of 100. However, he was dismissed for a two-ball duck and missed out on the mark.
He ended his incredible Test career with 6996 runs from 52 matches. (Agencies)
