Can Virat Kohli Do a Don Bradman After 82 Years by Pulling Off a Series Victory After Being Down 0–2 Against England?
In 1936, Sir Don Bradman scripted one of the most remarkable coming-from-behind victories against England. In 2018, can Virat Kohli and his team rewrite history?
When India lost the first two Test matches against England at Birmingham and Lords respectively, the series was following similar patterns of the disastrous results of the past few tours. However, when India came up with the goods in the third Test, where they clicked in all the three departments and handed out an impressive 203 runs defeat to the hosts, the world realised why this crop of players are considered world beaters and are at the top of the ICC Test Rankings.
Virat Kohli, in particular, has not let his shoulders drop for one moment however wrong the situation has been and deserved praise for it. Now the Indian skipper has the chance to emulate the great Sir Donald Bradman as the only captain to win a five-match test series after being 2-0 down.
In 1936, Bradman was the captain of the Australian team that hosted the Englishmen for the fiery Ashes series. England got off to a perfect start with a 322 runs win in the first test in Brisbane. Australia was utterly humiliated as they were bundled out for 58 in pursuit of 381 runs in the fourth innings.
Another one in Sydney followed this win for the travelling England side as they beat the Kangaroos by an innings and 22 runs. Again it was the batting that cost the Australians the game.
After the loss in the opening two matches, Australia under the leadership of Don Bradman woke up from its slumber and galvanised themselves for a fight. The Melbourne test witnessed the rise of the Australian batting as they posted scores of 200 and 564 with Bradman scoring 270 runs in the second innings. The result was a massive 365 run win victory for Australia and a lifeline for them in the series.
The fourth test in Adelaide was a keenly contested match with England set a target of 392 runs in the final innings of the game. They managed just 243 runs with Australia’s WJ O’Reilly picking up eight wickets to hand his team a 148 run victory. The impossible dream was slowly becoming a reality with both sides tied at two wins each in the series.
The final frontier for Bradman and his men was in Melbourne with now momentum clearly with the home side, and England was losing their confidence with each loss. Australia capitalised on this momentum shift to pile on 604 runs in the first innings of the final test.
Don Bradman, SJ McCabe and CL Badcock were the centurions. In reply, England meekly surrendered with scores of 239 and 165 in their two innings. Australia won the test by an innings and 200 runs and showed the world what team spirit and inspired captaincy could change the fate midway through a series.
Virat Kohli has been in supreme throughout the series with the bat, and it is now time for this modern day maestro to emulate the feat of the greatest player in the history of the game, 82 years post his achievement. Can he do it? Well, he is more than capable to do so but will need all the support of his teammates to rise to the occasion.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 29, 2018 12:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).