Don Bradman was a great admirer of Sachin Tendulkar, so much so that the Australian great, who boasts the best batting average in Test cricket to date (99.94), did not spurn a chance to witness Tendulkar ever after the Mumbai batsman had captured his attention with a blistering 90 against Australia in a 1996 World Cup match.
A prolific run-getter throughout his career, Bradman saw in Tendulkar similar qualities that he himself had: "I saw him playing on the television and I was very, very struck by his technique. I asked my wife to come and have a look at him. Because, I said, I never saw myself play, but I feel that this feller is playing much the same as I used to play," the Australian once said.
This day, that year
Though they were cricketers of different generations, August 14 was significant for Bradman and Tendulkar alike.
Bradman played his last Test innings on this day (August 14) in 1948, when he was dismissed for a nought which denied him from finishing his career with a batting average of 100. (Bradman had needed only four runs to finish with an average of 100.)
42 years later, on the same day, Tendulkar made his first Test century for India, against England at Old Trafford in Manchester, helping his country save a Test match. His 119 remains one of the great match-saving innings by an Indian batsman outside the sub-continent.
This was the first of 100 international centuries that Tendulkar made during his 24-year cricket career.
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