The ‘Baggy Green’ cap of Australian cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman has been auctioned. In this auction held in Gold Coast, an anonymous buyer purchased it for 460,000 Australian dollars (approximately ₹2.90 crore). This is the same cap that Bradman wore during the first Test series played against independent India in 1947-48. Remained in a vault for 75 years, allowed to be seen at age 16 Bradman had gifted this cap to the Indian team’s opening bowler Ranga Sohoni (S.W. Sohoni), after his last home Test series (1947-48). The Sohoni family kept it privately safe for about 75 years and never publicly displayed it. Lee Hames, COO of Lloyds Auctions, described this cap as ‘the most priceless treasure in the world of cricket’. He said, ‘It was locked away for three generations. The family rule was that only when a member turned 16, were they allowed to see the cap for just 5 minutes.’ Ranga Sohoni bowled the first ball of independent India Indian cricketer Sriranga Sohoni played only the first Test match of the 1947-48 series. Although he did not get any wickets, he bowled the first ball of that match. This was also the first ball in the cricket history of independent India. After this match, Bradman gave his cap to Sohoni as a memento. Names of both legends are written inside the cap Inside this special cap, the names D.G. Bradman (Donald Bradman) and S.W. Sohoni (Sriranga Sohoni) are written. Below the Australian emblem on the cap, 1947-48 is also embroidered. In the cricket world, only 11 such Baggy Green caps of Bradman are known to exist, because in that era, players wore a different cap for each series. Also Read: Unbeaten India face Zimbabwe in U-19 World Cup Super Six: Ayush Mhatre’s team aims to extend winning run after topping Group B Shane Warne’s cap holds world record The record for the most expensive baggy green cap in auction history belongs to legendary spinner Shane Warne. In 2020, Warne’s cap was sold for approximately ₹5.90 crore(1 million Australian dollars). This money was donated to the Bushfire Charity. Meanwhile, Bradman’s debut cap from 1928 was sold for approximately ₹2.65 crore in 2020. Bradman’s record against India In that historic 1947-48 series, India suffered a 0-4 defeat. Don Bradman batted brilliantly in that series, scoring 715 runs at an average of 178.75, which included three centuries. Post navigation ‘This is not how we wanted to go’:Cricket Scotland expresses sympathy for Bangladesh, announces T20 World Cup squad after late replacement Hardik Pandya completes 10 years in international cricket:Posted an emotional message, wrote – ‘This is just the beginning’
