MAN: What are we looking at next? We're looking at our library
and a special photo here of probably two of the most famous
cricketers ever in the world - Sir Donald Bradman,
Sachin Tendulkar. PAUL KENNEDY:
It was the only time they met, a rare crossover between eras, when the greatest batter
in the modern game met the greatest of all time. This photo was taken
on Bradman's 90th birthday. There are only four examples of it
in existence, and we're lucky enough
to have one here. Just two years earlier, Bradman had paid the young Indian
a tribute he gave no other player. SIR DONALD BRADMAN: I've only seen
Tendulkar on the television. And I was very, very struck
by his technique. COMMENTATOR:
Ooh, that's a lovely shot. 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 fella is playing much the same as I used to play. HARSHA BHOGLE: It was huge in India. Everybody in India said, "Right, who's the greatest
there's ever been? There's Bradman. "And now Bradman's saying,
'This kid plays like me?'" It's probably the greatest
compliment any cricketer can get. And suddenly the parallels
with Bradman started to emerge. The hunger for runs,
the hunger to bat on and on. GIDEON HAIGH: When you look
at footage of Bradman, he looks more dynamic. When he cuts
and when he pushes off for a run, he looks like a modern player. Nothing fazes them.
They have an answer to every attack. Hi, Sachin. Paul Kennedy.
Paul, lovely to see you. From the ABC in Australia.
Thanks for having us. I just loved the way he batted,
and he just made runs for fun. COMMENTATOR: Brilliant effort
by Sachin Tendulkar. That brings the crowd to their feet. Grandpa certainly had
quite a fascination, I think, with watching him play,
but it was more than that. There's a technical aspect, but there's also skills,
there's tactics, there's mental capacity,
and there's physicality. He throws so much at it
that after he hits it, that front foot just sort of
overbalances slightly. When I watch Tendulkar,
I recognise a level of calm focus. And I felt I was in that zone where I could actually figure out
what the bowler was trying to bowl. Thanks very much. Thank you. Must have been a very special thing
to witness. It was. There are also cricketers
who wrote the book on fame. It felt like the country
weighed on his shoulders every time he went out to bat. PAUL KELLY: They kept sane
and they kept their balance and they kept grounded
through all of that. Not an easy thing to do. It just defies belief
that you can keep it all together, and maybe their sanctuary was going out in the middle
of a cricket ground. (CROWD ROARS) The best I ever saw
and the best I never saw - two players from opposite sides
of the world and completely different eras. Bradman, who played only test
matches, mostly against England, and Tendulkar,
who played constantly - one-day internationals, test matches
against all the cricketing nations. Everything was different for them - the pitches, the padding,
the pay, the rules. When you look at their styles,
they don't strike you as identical. Yet in his 80s,
for the first time in his life, Bradman saw something of himself
in another cricketer, and I've always wondered whether
he saw more than he was letting on. In fact, I reckon he saw a lot more.
And I'm not the only one. WOMAN: He was answering the question
that he was asked in the context of
talking about cricket. And could he have answered
the question in different ways? Well, if there was
a different question, then yes. I've got plenty of questions. So I'm going back to where
it all began for both players, and hopefully work out why
they were able to achieve feats no other player has
and probably never will. NEWSREEL: Don Bradman, the possessor of more records
than a gramophone company. I try and get as many runs
as I possibly can, and if in getting those runs
I should happen to break any record, well, naturally, I'm very pleased, but I do not deliberately set out
to try and break records. Well, he broke every single record
there was to break in batting in the span of a year. At the start of 1930, he gets
the 452 not out against Queensland. Gets to England
and he makes the 334 at Headingley. Yeah, I think growing up, you know
Sir Donald Bradman. Don't you? Like, the greatest cricketer
of all time. You know the batting average. You've got Donald Bradman
as the famous 99.94, and then you have
all the other all-time greats starting at about 60
and working down. So, effectively, you've got him
almost double the next best. No-one's got close.
Why hasn't anyone averaged 75, 80? And his poor series, his Bodyline,
he averaged 56. That's his poor tour! As a kid growing up,
if you'd asked me, "Tell me Australia in two words," I'd have said "kangaroo, Bradman". There's so many elements
to the story - holding the hopes of a country
on his back, and a boy from the bush, you know,
practising for hours on his own. I also like that he's a musician.
He played piano. As a grandpa, he was awesome.
I adored him. I'd go to my grandparents' house
after school. If he was there, he'd either be
at the piano or he'd be up in his den if there was, say, an AFL game on,
or maybe the cricket. Make no mistake -
stiff competition in the backyard. So he was hooking you for four
in the backyard? Oh, yeah.
(LAUGHS) He's a Davis Cup-level
tennis player. He can play snooker
with Walter Lindrum. You just don't think it's real that anyone can have
those sort of achievements. Thankfully, Bradman
was born in Australia and decided to play cricket. How are you enjoying
the trip to England? Oh, having a great time, thanks.
That's the idea. NEWSREEL: Every road led
to Trent Bridge. Skies threatened, but the lure
of the first test match prevailed, and till the ground was full, the turnstiles clicked
without interruption. No money was wanted back
by 26,000 cricket fans. HAIGH: He's completely
recalibrating the game and what people think is feasible
for an individual to accomplish. BHOGLE: But I think it was
a natural, aggressive intent. Bradman's first objective
was to score runs. Tendulkar's first objective was
to score runs. 'The Little Master'.
'The God of Cricket'. Like Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar
was a star from the beginning. RICHIE BENAUD: Very talented player.
Schoolboy prodigy. COMMENTATOR: It's a wonder
how he manages to lift that bat up and play that. Played his first test at 16 and kept going for 24 years to become the highest run-scorer
in the history of the game. Like Bradman, Tendulkar also holds
untouchable records, including scoring the most
international centuries by far. I knew that Sachin was on song
and near a century because there'd be no traffic
in Bombay, and that's unheard of. COMMENTATOR: Tendulkar goes big!
Takes him to 99. Suddenly the word went round
in a buzz that, "Sachin's on 90!
Sachin's on 90!" and it was like wildfire, and everybody dropped in their
tracks and looked for a television. (CROWD ROARS) I definitely remember having
a T-shirt of Sachin Tendulkar that I used to wear a lot. He was just a class above the rest. And then as soon as he
stopped batting, I put my Aussie shirt back on. TONY GREIG: Well, the new batsman,
Sachin Tendulkar. ALLAN BORDER: Well, it was during
that tour in the early '90s. The Indians were in Australia, and that was my first sighting
of Tendulkar. We'd heard a little bit
about this prolific youngster, but I hadn't seen footage of him
in action at that time. REPORTER: Teenage sensation
Sachin Tendulkar again showed off
his considerable skills. So, first impressions -
pretty impressive. That's when I first saw greatness.
From 22 yards. Because it's one thing getting runs, it's another thing watching a kid
who's 18 years of age dominate an Australian attack
like the way he did. BILL LAWRY: Deflects.
There's a chance. It's fine. He'll get it. Hughes is away. He'll
come back for the second, surely. Yes, here it comes.
That's great running. Well played, Sachin Tendulkar. GREIG: Yes, the youngest player to
score a test hundred in Australia. By the end of it, I think
Merv Hughes said to Allan Border, "This little prick's gonna get
more runs than you, AB." Um...yeah, I probably do
remember him saying that, because, I mean,
we just saw this kid, he's 18
and he's peeling off hundreds, and you're just thinking,
"Well, if he stays injury-free, "I mean, how many runs
is this guy gonna get?" HAIGH: And then he gets to Perth,
where the ball is flying, and he plays this brilliant hand
where he goes a shot a ball. Oh, over the head of gully.
You're not gonna catch that. That's four more.
He really went after McDermott. I think that Perth innings
has to be one of the finest test centuries
that I've seen. I don't recall him missing
a single delivery. Beautiful 50 from this young man,
a star of the future, Sachin Tendulkar. (APPLAUSE) You felt, "This guy is
in a different league now." This is where he's moving
from Tendulkar towards Bradman. Drives. That could be it.
Beats mid-on? Yes, it does! What a fine
performance by Sachin Tendulkar. DANIEL HOEVENAARS: So, that's
effectively a two-axis chart. You're looking at total runs,
total test runs, versus career batting average. Bradman and Tendulkar are the peaks
on either of those axes, Tendulkar making the most runs
over the longest period, and Bradman having
the highest average, and by far. KELLY: He was one of those people
that you just want to go and see. You know, "I want Australia to win, "but please let Tendulkar
make a century." Especially back in 2011. Sachin Tendulkar was in Australia with 99 international centuries
to his name. COMMENTATOR: Bowled!
No, there won't be another! The story will continue. But it didn't go to plan. GREIG: I don't see any reason
why not. That's out! That's out! Yes, he is!
Tendulkar's gone! Well, what a tragedy. He looked as if
he was bang on target for that century
that he needs so badly. The big moment finally came
two months later in Bangladesh. COMMENTATOR: What a day for India. What a day for
international cricket. It's an absolutely mind-boggling,
mind-boggling event, this. To get 100 international hundreds
in that era... ..it's like what Sir Bradman did -
something special. The following year, Sachin Tendulkar
played his final match at his Mumbai home ground,
Wankhede Stadium, having achieved feats no other
player has come close to matching. Not only made more runs
than anybody else, but he's still sitting 5,000 runs
ahead of everybody else. It's not he deserves it.
I think he was made for it. He's absolutely a legend. And now he's truly got himself
into the category of Don Bradman. They don't build museums like this
for many cricketers. We have artefacts and statistics, but not much vision
of Bradman playing. It's why Bradman said
he never really saw himself play. But what clips we have
still tell a story. He got after that one?
Yeah. He's watching very carefully. And as soon as he gets half a sniff
of the length, he can attack. He's thundering. He's right into it.
Not so many sixes. I mean, I think Bradman only hit
six sixes in his Test career, but he wouldn't have bothered
because he didn't have to. I was lucky enough to talk
to Ray Lindell. BORDER: You know, I was trying
to get a bit of a handle on how you bowled to Bradman. And he just gave it, "Oh,
bloody nightmare." He said the crack off the bat
was just quite phenomenal. But he was so busy. As you can see in this stuff,
he scuttles between the wickets. Bradman didn't tire
over the course of the day. His partners would complain that
5:30 they were new to the crease and he'd been there all day and they
were still at risk of being run out because he was that quick
between wickets. Even the question
was asked back in the day, "Don, how did you do it?" And he's taken part
in these instructional videos. INTERVIEWER: Would you mind showing
us one or two strokes now? Just illustrate a few little shots
for you, you mean? Front foot. Look at that bat speed.
Look at the bat speed on it. And you have
what is known as a hook shot. That covers practically
the whole... You can hear it. It's like chh. And you also have
what is known as a pull shot. He demonstrates a pull shot
off the front foot. And we have the late cut. It's a very late cut. He says late cut third. It's a shot no-one plays now. Going across with the left foot. You think batting would be easier
in those gloves or harder? I don't know, actually. Now, the big contrast for me
was the size of Bradman's bat, but then you play at that time, so maybe Bradman needed to put a
little more power behind his shots. It was all so superbly coordinated, the hand-eye coordination,
the use of the wrists. Just like the way
he uses his body weight as well. Like, it was all in, like,
a bit of a flow state almost. HEALY: It was ultimately
changing the sport, in my opinion. Also, I can't believe how small he
was and yet how far he hit the ball. So it gives me great hope one day.
(CHUCKLES) I think it was Bradman. Well, it's a wonderful exposition,
isn't it? You can see the alacrity with which
he elaborates on those shots. You can see the wrist,
you can see the bat speed. You can see the fact that he's
conscious of every ball he receives being a potential source of a run. MAXWELL: He did like to dominate. He wasn't hanging around,
just waiting for a loose ball. He was making the loose ball. So that again, is his consummate
skill, and Tendulkar's, that they were able to do that. Have you shown Tendulkar these? When Sachin Tendulkar was playing
on the streets of Mumbai, this was a city of 10 million. Now it's double that. Cricket is everywhere, and even a game like this
can get very serious very quickly. I've suddenly become
the third...the video referee. That was great. Good fun.
Really good fun. And you still see his face
wherever you go. I'm on my way
to Mumbai's temple of cricket. Welcome to Wankhede Stadium.
Oh, yeah. Wow. You know, it's been one
of the great dreams of my life to come here
and have a look at this stadium. Oh, OK. Here it is. The iconic Wankhede Balcony.
Magnificent. And this is where the players stand
and jump and celebrate. The famous balcony
that you saw on cameras with the 2011 World Cup victory. COMMENTATOR: India lift
the World Cup after 28 years. The party has started
in the dressing-room. And that's where
the opposing team sits. That's the visiting team.
This is the home team. It's uncomfortably close
I would say, yeah. OK. The famous steps. Yes. This is where he walked out
for one final time. And this is the first time
that his mother, his family members were actually at the ground
watching the match. I don't think any fan here
did not have tears that day. (CHEERING) The memories that you've left
with me will always be with me forever and ever,
especially "Sachin. Sachin". That will reverberate
in my ears till I stop breathing. (CHEERING) If you look at India as a country,
it's always driven by individuals. The hero worship in India
is very important as a social fabric of the country. Then along comes this teenager,
this 15-year-old, who starts playing against men right
here and starts hitting centuries. Now, that's an inspiration
for so many people to believe in their dreams
and chase their dreams, because not often do you see
a boy from Bandra coming from a middle-class family
becoming a global icon. And it sort of gives belief
to the billion-plus Indians that, hey, even we can do this. Hi, Sachin. Paul Kennedy
from the ABC in Australia. Paul, lovely to see you.
Thanks for having us here. Absolute pleasure. It's the start of a new season and the first day for a new batch
of scholarship students. It's 30 degrees
and nearly 100% humidity. I'm the only one breaking a sweat. There are 14 boys and three girls and we are going to try
and encourage them. This camp would be free,
of course, for them for a year. So, full sponsorship, they don't
have to worry about anything. Nothing.
They just have to turn up and play. That's the least I can do.
Yeah. The game has given me so much. Well played. Shot. Good shot. I'm going to show you the 1930...
Excellent. ..Bradman's clinic. (ON VIDEO) ..by going back.
I've seen this. His pull shot
must have been devastating. Yeah. The bat speed was just incredible. When he's demonstrating
pull and hook, it's like a whip. It goes, whoosh.
You know, you can hear that. That's what his teammates said.
It sounded like a whip. Yes, it did. (CHUCKLES) He could score 360 degrees
like the modern player. Somebody who is
well ahead of his time is always going to do that. Wherever he wanted to play
and demonstrate it very briefly, you could see that control. You could see that authority
and that confidence. Every ball you're playing, you're
making a statement to a bowler to the fielding side. Every ball
you are conveying that message. So, when you're coaching
young players now, what are you looking at? Overall set up. I think for batting
balance is really important. The grip, back lift,
all those things are important, but intent is more important
than anything else. When I started playing,
the first thought in my mind was to hit a ball for a boundary, and if the ball
was a decent ball, then I would look to punch it
in a gap wherever. If it was better than that,
then maybe guide it for a single. A little better than that, block it. And if I had to let the ball go,
then... That's plan D. That was my last option
to let the ball go. The first option
always was to hit the ball. Which is very much the way
Bradman approached batting. Absolutely. I'm going to ask you, what do you
think Sir Donald Bradman saw in you that he recognised in himself? That's a tough question to answer. That's, that's a massive statement. And for... I was only 22 then, 22, 23. I mean, for a 22-, 23-year-old
professional athlete, to hear something like that, it
was like, worth in gold, his words. But now, as an older man,
looking back, do you think he was talking about
something more? It wouldn't be right of me to speak about what the similarities
or whatever. I would leave that to his family. GRETA BRADMAN: What I think about
what Grandpa thought of Sachin, he had such admiration for the man first and foremost. And I can't ever remember
that not being the case. It was, I think, resonating with a sense of this is another
person who has put in the work to know himself and to channel that into unlocking
his potential to the fullest extent. And I think that is preparation. And I reckon
that what Grandpa would have said is he did all of this prep work
when he was a child growing up. Shepherd Street
was a very, very full house, full not just of people, but full
of laughter and full of curiosity. I think there was
a real sense of, aren't we lucky to have this one life? Let's all go out there
and eat it up. Sitting at the piano
with his big sister, learning from her a real sense
of support and camaraderie. And bottom line, I guess, family. Anyone I think who grows up
in a household full of sport and creativity and, you know,
music and art is a lucky human. What's the general reaction when
people come to visit this house? Well, quite remarkable.
And I'm always surprised. When you go to a historic house,
you're treading the same boards. You're breathing the same air. You know, it's as close
to a person as you can get. Please, come on in.
Thank you. This is where Don
and his brother, Victor, slept. All the vents are original. And this is the parlour. The Bradmans were a very large
family. There were five children. Behind that piano, against that wall
is, in fact, the tank stand. You can imagine Don's sisters,
who each played the piano trying to practise while Don's
making a racket out there. NEWSREEL: Bradman never knew which way that ball
was going to twist and dart next, and trying to follow its flight
gave him an eye like a gimlet and wrists like quicksilver. BRADMAN: But of course,
at the time when I was doing it, it had no meaning at all for me, other than the fact
that I was just enjoying myself. I used to play away for ages out
there on my own and it was just fun. I had one golf ball
which was slightly out of shape and I got this weird idea
that, you know, why not, you know, use a blade
and start cutting the ball and make it kind of egg-shaped ball? And then I would ask my aunt
to throw that ball at me and I would be practising
back foot defence with soft hands in the living room. I had to play with soft hands, otherwise it would break
everything in the house. You see so many athletes
that have such unique capabilities, they're almost inventing games
for themselves where you're not getting that
from normal training regimens. So, for both Tendulkar and Bradman learning to play the game
with golf balls to make it
even harder for themselves, tapping into imagination
and that dreamlike state it feels like
both of them seem to have. Oh!
So this is the tank stand. Yes.
This is where it all happened. So...
May I touch it? Of course you can. You can even hit
a golf ball against it as well. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. We are touching you, Don.
We are touching you, Don. It's going away. I'm getting goose bumps
and it's a great feeling that, you know,
I'm walking on the same place where Sir Don used to practise. Whoa! Oh, careful. The moment I come here,
I feel he's walking. So this is where you grew up with
Sachin? Yes, absolutely. This was his
building, actually. Fourth floor. Yep. And I used to live
on the third floor. And all the cricket,
as you can imagine, used to happen in the grounds. Yes.
Or in this lane. He used to love injuring us. He used to bowl the bouncer - about
three steps and used to go voom! Yeah. So he enjoyed the bowling
more than the batting when he used to come here. Tough to face.
Tough? Impossible! You will not believe the speed
at which that man used to bowl. Really?
And he used to cheat. He used to go two paces up and he used to bowl. And I can assure you
that rubber ball was at the speed
at what Brett Lee's bowling. I swear to God. SACHIN: I was a naughty kid,
I would say. Completely out of control. I don't know how my parents
were so patient with me. I actually fell from a mango tree.
Right. And my brother said,
"Enough is enough. "He has to go and...
He's got too much energy." Yeah. "He's got to go on the cricket field "and practise there
and join summer camp." The mango tree was right here. And Sachin had climbed up on it and one of the branches fell down
with a loud crunchy sound, which I remember it vividly. I don't how he saw
what he saw in a 12-year-old, and he was proved right, and all the mischief came to use,
I guess. My friends tell me that
whenever I was batting, my brother was never contactable. He would go on long drives. He didn't want anyone to tell him
what was happening in a match. Once the series got over, we would sit at home together and
watch all my innings hours on end. So he was another coach. Yeah, I mean,
he was...he was my coach from the time I picked up
a cricket bat. Yeah. There were challenging moments
along the way. That is where the family
comes in to play. My father was a professor, also
a poet. He wrote a few books. My parents also enjoyed music. Mother would be
sometimes humming songs. Both my brothers followed cricket,
and my sister, who gave me the first
cricket bat of my life, always made sure
I was in a good space. And then when I got married,
it was Anjali, then Sara and Arjun, my children. Right from my first game in my life
till the last game in my life, I got nervous before I was playing. I remember Anjali telling me,
"Are you sulking with me?" I said, "No, I'm just preparing
for the game tomorrow. "I'm in a different zone now." An athlete goes through
various emotions. There are highs and lows, and to be so patient in this
partnership was really important. It was a combined effort, and that's why I say that I felt
like a Formula One car where multiple guys
were working for the team and I was the face of the team. And I would join my parents only on
weekends and my friends in Bandra. But otherwise I lived
in Shivaji Park. Catch it! Shivaji Park is perhaps the most
famous of the maidans in Mumbai. It's 10:00 on a Sunday morning,
and there are hundreds of cricketers here in the one place. No net sessions today. This is more of an informal games, not much defence, all-out attack. And this is what they do
all the time. If you get caught by a player
in the game next to you, you're out. Well, that might be
the biggest thrill of my modest sporting lifetime. You feel like you're at
the centre of cricket here. The other thing I've noticed
is the stifling heat, but the players
seem unaffected by it. The cricket is nonstop in Mumbai. They're playing. They're practising.
They're being coached. Sure, there are academies,
but it's this volume of cricket that makes India
a world power in the game. You've got to watch where
you're looking, by the way. They're hitting sixes and fours
all over the place. HAIGH: In India,
there's a much stronger tradition of the student and the guru. And in Tendulkar's case,
that's Ramakant Achrekar. SACHIN: Achrekar Sir's influence
was huge in my career. He tried changing my grip. So his thought was
too much bottom hand? Yeah. I mean, he felt
if I could hold the bat slightly up on the handle,
it would change my game. But he was sharp enough
to understand that it's taking away my natural
flair, the control that I had. And so sometimes it's better to let
a young player do what is working rather than over-coach. Just important to make
minor adjustments here and there. It's like cooking food. If the salt is missing,
you don't start cooking again. We just add salt. A little bit of variation
can change the taste and the same thing here. Minor adjustments
can change your game, so it's important
when not to coach as well. MAN: I saw him first as a schoolkid
and he was playing against some of the fastest bowlers
in the nets. The way he batted, I remember going back home
and telling my wife that, "Look, here is a special talent." Then he makes
his Ranji Trophy debut at 15. He gets picked for India
to go to Pakistan in 16. And by the time he was 16,
he might have played more matches than any 22, 23 year old. When he played his first Test,
he was in overdrive already. COMMENTATOR: Waqar Younis
to Tendulkar. That's a good shot.
That's four runs. And then to go and play the pace
attack like that, I mean, Imran, Waseem, Waqar,
he just battled through. And Tendulker,
he doesn't like it quick at all. I think he may have taken that
on the face. SACHIN: So early on in my career
I realised that if I have to be successful
against fast bowlers, I should be able
to punch on my back foot. I liked a lot going on my toes and I thought I was able to transfer
that power behind the ball. My back foot shots invariably
would be there and this. So I would punch the ball,
not go full flow. When I got on the toes,
I was able to be on top of the ball and I was able to generate power. Holy cow! Tendulkar heaving
away through midwicket. You could just see how poised
he was at the crease. Nothing really fazed him. He got bowlers coming in
and bowling at 150 k's. He wasn't fazed by that. It's not a bad shot either. He loved pace.
He loved someone coming at his head. He just got into great positions.
Always had time to play the quicks. When you have that much time,
it makes a huge difference. MAN: He was quick
to get into position, but he was often late to play shots, so it was really hard to fool him. Maybe try and get...
SIRI: I'm not sure I understand. (LAUGHS) Thanks, Siri. Where do you bowl to Tendulkar? Didn't answer, did he?
He doesn't know. Siri doesn't know
where to bowl to Tendulkar. From the time
it leaves the bowler's hand until it reaches you is of the
order of a seventh of a second. So in that short space of time, you've got to make up your mind
where that ball is and either try
and play a scoring shot offered or defensive shot
or get out of the road. Now that is a pretty tall order. BAUM: I think Bill Ponsford said that the secret to Don
is quite simple. He sees the ball
a yard sooner than the rest of us. His eyesight wasn't exceptional. It's just this very particular gift. I can only imagine bowling
to someone like Bradman. Like you just would have felt
like it wouldn't matter where you pitched the ball, he had
an option and an answer to that. He knew instantly
when the ball was pitched what shot he was going to play and
exactly where his body would end up. BORDER: Obviously, his brain
was calculating what was happening just that little bit quicker
than everyone else. And I think that's what you see
in Tendulkar. He had a gift as well. Like Bradman, he is just a little
bit better than everybody else and he exploited it. So, the machine says
84 miles an hour. It's just under 140. That's actually the average pace
of opening bowling at Test level through almost every era
for the last 100 years. And he's pretty comfortable. So I'll try and face that fast
bowling for everyone out there that wants to know what it's like
from a park cricket viewpoint. Is there anything you can tell me
so that I don't get hurt while I'm facing that speed? I reckon if you stay pretty side on,
maybe stay sort of leg side of it. So maybe this side of the stumps
get the bat in the way. That's why we use it.
Yeah. Alright. Perfect. Thanks, mate.
I'll see how we go. So we're starting at about
90 kilometres per hour. That's just slightly above what
spinners bowl in Test cricket. So and then we'll go up in tens
and see if I can react. Oh, he's hit the middle of the bat
three times. It's too slow! Oh. This is Bradman. Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho! There we go. Solid. He struggled a bit there
at about 112. This might be...120, 125. So we'll see how we go. I'll go up a bit faster. He's shaking in his shoes out there. Didn't see it. (LAUGHS) Didn't see it. That's gone through
to the wicketkeeper before he's played a shot. It's bang on 140. Deep breaths. It'll only bruise for a week. No, three weeks at my age. Alright, we'll try red.
See if he picks the red one up. There we go. Shot. He likes the red ones. Well, that was an experience
like no other for me. My heart was beating
out of my chest. I was perspiring and I was
only there for a few minutes. It's mind blowing
to know how fast that is. And it will be really interesting
now to get into the lab to find out what Bradman
and Tendulkar were able to do in 0.4 of a second. What we want to do is bring
Don Bradman back to life in a way that
he's never batted before. Through Sam Harper.
In 3D. Pretty similar. Because there's always...
A domestic average of about 27. So you're exactly right in between
Bradman and Tendulkar's height. What are you thinking about
this question of were they similar? What's your starting point today? I think it's trying to find
what are those points of similarity and trying to re-create those. So we're gonna do
straight drive first. BRADMAN: But it's aim should be
just wide of the stump. So I think I need to be thumb
exaggerate the thumb over gets his head into the ball, comes
in there and then snaps his bat and finishes with his way
right through there. Yeah, his hands are quite close
to his body, though, the whole time through. Alright, well, let's...
Let's give it a go. Let's give it a go. His head is actually slightly
over the offside. So an off drive...slightly and head
slightly over to the other side. Yep. So his bottom hand and his top hand
were slightly apart and his arms are quite straight. Yeah, that's good.
Oh, look at that. I've gone back in time. Do you reckon I can speak like him? "This is the straight drive."
(LAUGHS) And he doesn't quite
get fully up onto his toes. Looks good to me. Probably a boundary too. His devastating pull shot. Oh, wow, he really rotates on that. This would be a hard one to do
because this is very abnormal. Yeah, and he comes right
around at the end of it. Yeah. That's more like it.
That's good. Can we try the late cut? Let's reintroduce that
to the sporting public. Oh, my word.
Oh, there you go. That's actually gonna be harder
than I thought. He squats. His first step is back and across
nearly every shot that he plays. He almost falls over the offside.
It's a long way. It's a bit lower.
Yeah. And his hands are on his... Yes. Yeah. OK, ready for Sachin? And a quick look
at the straight drive. Yeah. And there's tap-tap
with his foot. Yeah, that's it.
Off you run. How does he hold it? Exactly. Can we compare the pull shot? Front foot goes, then his back foot and he uses his leg
to counterbalance. Close.
Get your lift leg up higher. Yeah. It's quite a remarkable shot,
really. The improvised cut shot. They broke convention, didn't they,
these guys? Yeah. Well done. Nice.
It's not easy to do. Sensational. I can log this in and name it
as a batting session. Yeah.
Today was meant to be a day off. OK, this is a bowler's nightmare. Bradman and Tendulkar
walking out to bat. Magic. So we're going to play them
side by side for you guys. We're going to have the camera
rotate around them. So I give you guys a view
that's never been seen before. And you see the path
of the end of the bat, which is a really good way to see
it in this 3D image where you can swing it around
and see it at different angles. Stance obviously very different. They were both very good
with their footwork, but Don Bradman in particular
moved around a lot in his crease. Very quick to identify the ball,
big rotation, so he finishes with his whole body
facing the direction of the ball. In fact, I think he spins
before he runs. Tendulkar, on the other hand, a
little bit more down the power end, really hitting the ball rather than
stroking it as Bradman does. What's your view on whether or not
they batted in a similar way? They look similar at the start and then they become different
afterwards. On the straight drive,
Bradman finishes with his bat over the shoulder. Tendulkar finishes with the bat
around the shoulders, partly because of the way
that they generate their speed. So, you've been inside the mind
and movements of Bradman and Tendulkar. Are they similar? In a skills sense, not really. From my end,
I think maybe one skill thing they would have done very similar
would have had a very still head and played the ball
under their eyes. So there was certainly a few things
that they would have done similar. Do you think it's possible that
Bradman was seeing something else in Tendulkar? I think he was seeing confidence,
attitude, mindset, concentration. I think he was seeing
a whole range of things. Some of it marries up to technique
from a physical perspective, but I think a lot of it's
between his ears. Mmm. BRADMAN: It was just his compactness and his stroke production
and his technique. It all seemed to gel
as far as I was concerned. That was how I felt. From my side, I thought the statement came at a time
where I felt, "Wow, I need to push harder." I think it's the best tonic
one can get to feel that you are being noticed
and your game is being appreciated. It came at the right time. MAN: Even as a large section of
the Indian population of Sharjah was trying to get into the ground, Australia's chances
were diminishing. I remember on that 1998 tour, we were Tendulkar-centric
at that stage. COMMENTATOR: Through the gap.
On the off side. Listen to it. It was nuts. If you were trying to move
a fielder, unless they actually looked at you,
they could not hear you. (CROWD ROARS)
Oh, he's hit this one miles! Great shot! Oh, it's a biggie! What a player. Wow, this little man is the nearest
thing to Bradman there's ever been. I've always felt that cricket
is at its best and most exciting when you've got slow spin bowler
bowling to a champion batsman. Then I feel you've always got
incident. COMMENTATOR: That's smashed back, straight back over
the bowler's head. The build-up for Warne versus
Tendulkar was just unbelievable. Tendulkar greets him
by dancing down the pack. When Warne would get the ball
it wasn't quite loud as Tendulkar, but it was loud. It was just two legends of the game
going at each other. SHASTRI: There was genuine thought
process put that behind that. Before even Shane Warne
landed in India. Australia came to India and played
the Ranji Trophy champions, played Mumbai. I got runs in that match. I got a double hundred. And my friends
were congratulating me. And he said,
"There's something wrong here." Warne hasn't shown the trump card
to me. He hasn't bowled a single ball
around the wicket. At the critical stage
in a Test match, I know for sure that he is going
to go around the wicket. And that's when I called
a few of Mumbai colleagues who played cricket with me. And one of the leg spinners there
was Lakshman Sivaramakrishnan. Was a beautiful leg spinner. And he bowled to him I think
for two or three days. HAIGH: He worked out that you could
use Warne's amazing leverage of spin against him. Warne spun the ball vast distances
but that did actually give you room to manoeuvre the ball
around the field. JIM MAXWELL:
And in the first innings, he galloped down the pitch to Warne
and whacked him for four, and he tried again perhaps
a little boldly and he nicked off to slip. COMMENTATOR: He's out! He's out! You know,
Warnie won the first contest. So it was seeming like
if Warne continues to win it, we're going to win. And the turning point in that series
is when Warne goes round the wicket. TENDULKAR: I had two options. One was to go over mid-wicket
if the length was close enough, and the second option was if the ball was landing
in the rough patches, then to be on top of the ball. Then the unevenness of the surface
doesn't come into play at all. MAXWELL: Tendulkar kind of
eyed him off and waited with a brilliant combination of letting the ball go, soft hands,
watching, and then pouncing. And Tendulkar plays a slog sweep
over mid-wicket. Slog swept it into the distance. COMMENTATOR: Oh, he's gone after him
again. And it's a big one. That was like a cannon going off,
really, in terms of the game and the series. And you think of defining moments
in sport for India. I think that is one of the defining
moments - he does that. HAIGH: Warne kind of got caught up
in the mind trap that Tendulkar laid for him. The more he tried using
his core skill, the more Tendulkar put him off
and took him on. Did it seem as significant at the
time as is what we now know it was? Yes, it certainly did. MAN: Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 155
looked even better after one of the greatest innings
in modern cricket. I don't think it's been anyone
besides Bradman probably even in the same class
as Sachin Tendulkar. He's just an amazing player. When Tendulkar was batting, he could
have been batting in total silence. (CROWD ROARS) (SILENCE) His capacity for shutting out
what was happening around him is absolutely extraordinary. TENDULKAR: When I was batting
at my best, my conscious mind was always
at the non-striker's end, and my subconscious mind
was at the striker's end. Because bowler is constantly
asking you questions. Your conscious mind
has to pick that. Then once you've picked,
within that fraction of a second, you have to surrender yourself
to your subconscious mind, whatever is stored in the computer,
as we call it. It takes over and you react. COMMENTATOR:
That's brilliant from Tendulkar. He knew exactly where the space was. I think that's fascinating. I remember showing Grandpa
a book on flow state. So this idea of engagement
and meeting the world in flow. Having this experience
of time standing still. I don't know if he was sort of
in two places at once as well, but what an extraordinary
capability. When you're not in that state, you're trying to think about what
the bowler is going to do, whereas when you are in that state,
you know what they're going to do. And you probably can't explain
why you know that. It's sort of elusive
to most people most of the time. When I started playing cricket,
it was pressure-free cricket because there was no pressure
of expectations. My father had given me the freedom
to fail as well. GRETA BRADMAN: These days in sport,
there's a real focus on mindset. Folks like Ben Crowe, Ash Barty's,
mindset coach, and others, and this appreciation of the importance of getting to know
who you are as a person. Both of them talk about
setting dreams, but not necessarily
making them expectations. You know, Tendulkar's dad. "So I just want you to try your best "and not care about
the consequences." Well, that's a superpower, because most of us get distracted
by the consequences. I think Tendulkar often said, "Look, the critics don't know
what I'm thinking "or how I'm preparing and so forth, "so why would I listen to them?" Everybody draws comparisons
with Bradman and Sachin in terms of record, but very few people... This is the first time
that anybody's coming to me with a comparison of impact. And of conduct. And the timing of that impact
and the conduct and what it did to
the two different countries. What Australia lived through in
the early period of Bradman's career is economic hardship and a sense of being abandoned
a little bit within the empire by Britain. PAUL KELLY: That was one place
Australians could feel that pride. Beating England at their own game
I think was a big part of that. Now look at where India was. India's come of age as
an economic power around '93, '94, when the country opens up,
foreign investment comes in, and India is now an open country as opposed to a closed,
socialist driven economy. As India grew to take its place
in the world also grew the awareness that we could be as good
as anybody else in the world, which under a colonial regime,
we were not allowed to believe. They were part of that whole
explosion at that time. And he was adopted son
of the country, and he took it very seriously. He actually unified the country
into a nation. That is when we started
comparing him to Bradman, because Bradman had the same
unifying power. It was strange, but I think
a little unfair because of the kind of pressure
that is put on it. Every time he went out, you know, the entire nation
would sit up and watch. When is he going to get 100? If he didn't,
they treated it as a failure. I know he might have felt
very lonely at times. When you reach those heights,
can be a very lonely place to be because you are the only one there
who understands what's happening. Both Bradman and Tendulkar must
have felt the weight of the world at different times from the expectations
of their millions of followers certainly in the case of Tendulkar,
literally millions of followers. Sachin never left.
He still lives here. How does he live here in this...
in this city and have a life? Even today if he goes
to a restaurant, if he comes to one, OK,
he's going to get mobbed. So that's something
that he's made peace with. And he tries to live around that. Even if he wants to drive
his fast cars. He steps out at 1am or 2am
in the morning, and that's pretty much life for him. It's a package deal and I wouldn't
compromise on anything. I think whatever I have received
so far in my life, it's a blessing from up above. There are very few people
in this world who love doing something and people actually love watching
what they are doing. (ALL CHANT) You know, I feel today amidst all
these lights and cameras and so on, somewhat like a movie star. I think fame to Grandpa,
he simply did not engage with it. He saw it as at best an illusion
and at worst a jail cell. I think that it did mean that others
could create a version of him that deviated from who he was. From a journalistic point of view,
he could be challenging. He grew weary of it,
very, very weary of it. He thought it was intrusive. I'm sorry to say, this is going
to be my last tour in this country and that I do not intend to play
cricket anymore, even in Australia. So all you journalists
who've had such a wonderful time at my expense, I will ask... (LAUGHTER) You better get busy because
this is the last chance. He thought that he'd done his bit, and in fairness to him,
he did do his bit. MAN: Farewell to the stage on which
he'd been the star for 20 years. You have to remember with Bradman that the pressure extended
beyond playing hours, particularly when he was a leader
for so long. I would honestly think that I get
just as much mail today as I ever got in my life, and it is quite common for me to have to spend
three or four hours a day just dealing with the mail. KELLY: Bradman answered every letter
that people wrote to him. I mean, that's a real grounding
that he thought, "These people are writing to me. "I'll take the time to respect
that and write back to them." I think it's very telling. Hold on a sec. I don't think anyone
has seen this letter. My neighbour, Mr Gowariker, his son,
is my dear friend, Avinash. I was only seven, eight years old. I had gone to his house and that's when his father
was talking about Sir Don. He said, "I've got something
really, really precious. "A handwritten letter by Sir Don." The letter says
that he was disappointed. One regret and his life was he was
not able to play cricket in India. My father
was a great cricket enthusiast and he had reached out to Sir Don, with a simple letter, which I would
call of a classic fan mail. It's just a very, very prized
possession of my father, and I've kept it
with the same emotion with me. It speaks a lot
about the person that he was. Playing cricket,
people would love you, but, you know, what happens
beyond cricketing years is also equally important
or possibly more important. And that is where the person
that you are comes into play. It's a precious thing. MAN: Sir Donald Bradman is used
to getting fan mail by the bucketload, but today the procession of posties
started earlier than normal with a barrage of deliveries
which went on for most of the day. At that point, Grandpa was not
very well, you know. He'd had a number of mini strokes
over the past period of time. He was obviously very quiet
about that, as with everything
in his private life. I hope he doesn't mind me
saying that. WOMAN: The celebrations have been
going on all week. India's star batsman
Sachin Tendulkar flew into Adelaide last night
to join in. I was actually in the middle
of a camp in Chennai and my manager told me that
on Sir Don's 90th birthday he's invited you to Australia and he's actually asked
if I could meet him at home. I know that it was hard for Grandpa,
I think, to invite someone over
at that point, but it meant a great deal to him,
that's for sure. Going to Sir Don's house,
2 Holden Street, was an unbelievable experience. MAN: With him was Australian spinner
Shane Warne, who has also received high praise
from Sir Donald. The funniest bit was the drive
with Warnie to Sir Don's house and Warnie said, "You got to start
the conversation," and I said, "No. You are from
Australia. You're a local kid. "You should be starting
the conversation. I shouldn't be." And he said to me, "What am
I going to discuss with him? "You two are batters. "You should be discussing batting. "And I will stand there
and listen to him." Well, Paul, this is the
lounge room at my parents' house. They sat there beside each other,
like two young gentlemen and... Big smiles on their faces. Very nervous and... But they chatted
and were very outgoing. I think it's fair to say
Grandpa was nervous. (LAUGHTER) Absolutely.
He called up Dad and said, "They're coming around.
"Can you come up?" And he said,
"Oh, I haven't played for years." And these two young men
at the very top of their game said, "What am I going to
talk to them about?" But they all found plenty
and they got on very well. He was just unbelievably sharp and he kept up with what
was happening currently in cricket. I think the thing
that was most conspicuous to my mind was Sachin's eagerness
to try to find out what really lay behind the scenes. He was going to get the good oil
on my father's magic. Obvious question from our side was what would you have average
in today's cricket, Sir Don? He said, "Maybe around 70 or so." I said, "Why 70?" He goes, "70 is not bad
for a 90-year-old, my kid." He tried again and he said, "How do you prepare
before you go and play, Sir Donald? "How do you prepare?
How do you prepare your mind?" His answer was simple. I mean, "I went to work,
I turned up, "got runs, went back to work." (BOTH LAUGH) Life must have been
completely different then. I mean, now, professional athletes,
pre-match preparation, post-match recovery,
all those kind of things. It's a different approach now. But in those days,
life was different and challenging. "To Sir Donald Bradman, "with best wishes
on your 90th birthday, "from Sachin Tendulkar."
27th of August, 1998. A candlestick holder
and a beautiful one. It's lovely, isn't it? It was a very special visit and they were such
delightful young men. Well, each of them
are very humble champions. Very, yes. I think they judged each other
in that way. All of them were very modest people. It must have been
a very special thing to witness. It was. Thanks very much. GRETA: I think that Shane
being there that day would have been a comfort
to Grandpa. He loved Warnie. You know, someone who he knew, someone who he trusted
and respected. To meet someone that he admired
so much and had never met. That official photo
was front page news in India. But we in India
interpreted that as saying that Bradman has anointed his heir. Bradman's heir is Tendulkar. I think I'm probably inclined to
see it for what it was at the time, which was a really special meeting
between two men who had affection for each other
and admired each other. Only four copies of the photo
were printed. There's the one at
the Melbourne Cricket Club and another at the South Australian
Cricket Association. (CAR HORN BLARES) The other two went to India. One to Tendulkar's manager,
Mark Mascarenhas, and the other in Sachin's house
in Bandra West. Well, here it is. It's a special photograph, capturing a special time
in cricket history. I knew the Tendulkar family
had a copy, but I didn't know that Sachin kept
so much more Bradman memorabilia. One champion's tribute to another. Warne didn't make
it into the official photo, but the photographer
got the three of them in a separate shot. The one the Australian papers
went with. You're the only one who remains
from that photo. Do you miss Shane Warne? Yes. For me, he will always.... He'll always be there. And I hate using this word, "was". With Warnie, I mean, I... I shared a wonderful relationship, and we've had
some wonderful moments. It's hard to accept
that he's no more with us. But the memories
that he's left with us will always stay
deep within our hearts. I was in England last year
and went to a restaurant, which was right next
to Warnie's house. And I actually could...
feel his presence. Tough to lose a friend. Tough to lose a friend in there. DON BRADMAN: We must not become
complacent. We must see to it that youth
appreciates the virtues of cricket and continues to play it. And that brings me
towards the close. What did Bradman see in Tendulkar? I think he saw a batsman
who had such command of his game, a bit like Bradman, that he could take
the decision-making away from bowlers completely. Bradman didn't say,
"He's the second Bradman." Bradman said,
"The way he plays reminds me of me." Perhaps to some extent, it is a little bit of
misty-eyedness as he's getting older and he sees this player
and he thinks, "I think that's how I played." For me, the connections
between the two of them are very much around
mindset and attitude and determination to be themselves. BHOGLE: He must have seen
something special. He must have been
in that zone to see someone else and then get that feeling that
this bloke's in the same zone too. PAUL KELLY: I think he'd recognise
the calmness, the joy. He often had a smile on his face,
you know, playing. He just really enjoyed it. I think Tendulkar had the same. The legacy from both of them
is to enjoy the game. HAIGH: I think that's something that
Bradman and Tendulkar had in common, was that despite the fact
that cricket is a finite world with finite possibilities, they were never bored by it. They were always fascinated by it. You never got the feeling that either of them would rather
have been doing anything else. SACHIN: This has been my passion. If you want to grow, you have to continue to be
a student of the sport. The moment you stop
being a student, you stop progressing. CLARK: They both
just enjoyed batting. I think that's at
the fundamental core of it. If you enjoy that
and you're good at it, and it reinforces that
you just want to do more of it. They probably just treated cricket like they were still
playing in the backyard. Even at the international level,
they didn't want to stop batting. They just loved batting. There is no dispute about
who was the greatest batsman ever and there is no dispute about
who is the God of Cricket. We're not going
to see another Bradman. We may well never see
another Tendulkar. But for those who missed Bradman,
we've seen Tendulkar and we should be very,
very grateful for that. Captions by Red Bee Media Copyright
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
