New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar has spoken of his memorable meeting with Donald Bradman in 1998 alongside Shane Warne. Tendulkar and Warne were invited to meet the late Australian batting czar in 1998 on the occasion of his 90th birthday at his home in Adelaide.
With 6996 matches in 52 Tests between 1928 and 1948, including 29 centuries and 13 fifties, at an amazing average of 99.94, Bradman is considered the benchmark for batters in world cricket.
Long after his retirement, he found parrallels of his batting style in Tendulkar, a view that was also endorsed by Bradman’s wife. Later Bradman praised Tendulkar’s technique, even saying that he reminded him of himself.
“I was very, very struck by his technique.” Bradman said in 1996, as quoted by various media outlets.
“I asked my wife to come and have a look at him. Because, I said, “I never saw myself play. But I feel this fellow is playing much the same as I used to. It was just his compactness, his stroke production, his technique. It all seemed to gel.”
Speaking to British publication The Telegraph, Tendulkar recalled how they had spoken about the art of batting and how top batters possess the ability to read the wrist position of bowlers and pick up which way it is turning in the air.
“We discussed batting. How good batters could read the ball by looking at the bowler’s wrist position and also see which way the ball is spinning in the air and hence could read the delivery as soon as it was released,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying.
Tendulkar enjoyed a memorabe duel with Warne when Australia toured India in 1998-99, getting the better of the leg spinner in a firecely contested series.
“There were very few spinners in world cricket against whom hitting the ball on the rise consistently was not a wise option – Warnie was one of them.
“Hence my approach against him was to wait for the ball to spin and play as late as possible. I would also mostly go inside-out and play with the spin,” Tendulkar said.
Sachin Tendulkar recalled how he and Don Bradman had spoken about the art of batting and how top batters possess the ability to read the wrist position of bowlers and pick up which way it is turning in the air. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
