Champion to give up historic pullover

Tendulkar to make Bradman Museum donation

Cricinfo staff

December 21, 2007

Sachin Tendulkar only managed 19 at the Junction Oval on Thursday but Australian fans will be given a permanent reminder of his class when he makes a donation to the Bradman Museum © Getty Images

Sachin Tendulkar will make a donation to the new Bradman Museum in Adelaide as a way of paying tribute to his batting idol. Tendulkar is planning to hand over the pullover he wore while scoring his 30th Test century, the innings that took him past Don Bradman's record of 29 Test hundreds.

The museum is being built at Adelaide Oval and Tendulkar is set to make the donation during the Adelaide Test in January. "I want to do this in memory of Don Bradman, who I admired as a cricketer," Tendulkar told the Herald Sun.

He reached the milestone at Headingley in 2002 when he made 193, but Tendulkar said comparisons between himself and Bradman were not justified. Tendulkar averages 55.06 from 142 Test appearances, compared with Bradman's mark of 99.94 from 52 matches.

"Statistically, I have passed Don Bradman but I can't be compared with him," Tendulkar said. "You can only dream of scoring a hundred every three innings."

However, Sunil Gavaskar believed Tendulkar was being overly modest. Gavaskar said: "For all Bradman's achievements, Tendulkar is the closest thing to batting perfection I've seen, in terms of technique and temperament."

Tendulkar's pullover will be joined at the new museum by the shirt Sourav Ganguly was wearing when he led India to a superb come-from-behind win against Australia in the 2000-01 Test at Kolkata. India were 274 runs behind when they were asked to follow on in that match, before VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid set up a surprise 171-run victory.

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