Published 15:35 IST, March 5th 2020
Sir Don Bradman reveals TOP secret behind his 99.94 Test average in golden throwback video
Have a look at this interesting video that shows the late Sir Don Bradman demonstrate the technique that he used to become one of the greatest batsmen ever.
Sir Don Bradman is one of cricket's most iconic players by all means. The Australian, who holds the record for the highest batting average in the history of Test cricket (99.94), scored 6,996 runs in his illustrious 20-year long Test career. The Don Bradman average is something which is revered by cricketers around the world till date and is something which has never been broken by any player who has played more than 1 Test match. Critics have often cited that the reason for Bradman's meteoric success in Test cricket was his unorthodox batting stance.
Don Bradman average: Rare video of Sir Don Bradman surfaces on Twitter
In a video uploaded by a Twitter user, Sir Don Bradman can be seen practising his batting in front of a few practice deliveries before he demonstrates his entire arsenal of batting strokes. It is very evident that Bradman sported a very peculiar batting stance and bat swing, which is critically dubbed as the reason behind his success. Sir Don Bradman was notorious for his unorthodox batting stance that saw him pointing his bat towards gully and playing his shots with a rotation action that saw him hitting the ball with a lot of impact. Bradman's follow-throughs were also more elaborate and could be likened to that of a golfer and it was very evident in the videos.
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Bradman also held his bat at an angle to reduce the possibility of getting out on cross-batted shots and he had a knack of using the crease well to compensate for different deliveries. In retrospect, while these techniques were very unorthodox looking in the 1940s, modern batsmen have incorporated parts of Bradman's technique into their own arsenal and have had varying levels of success. One of the biggest testament to this can be observed in the success of former Australian captain Steve Smith, whose bat-swing and stance is eerily similar to Bradman's. Here is the rare video of the late Australian legend.
Don Bradman death and legacy
Sir Don Bradman passed away on February 25, 2001. Don Bradman stats reveal that he scored close to 7000 Test runs and over 28000 first-class runs. His highest Test score was 334. In 2018, Indian great Sachin Tendulkar looked back at the day when he met the Australian legend, 20 years before the Don Bradman death.
Updated 15:35 IST, March 5th 2020