Jack Fingleton

People like Vinoo Mankad come rarely. And when they do, they transform the lives of everyone who comes across them. They show us how much we are yet to achieve in our lives.

Vijay Merchant was a technically sound batsman. Few bowlers could trouble him. Many old timers recall that even beating him in the nets wasn't easy.

The first thing that strikes you as you enter the Manuka Oval is the big, old-fashioned, manual scoreboard named after Jack Fingleton.

It was another day, another era when cricket was yet to go colour. A Test series that Gary Sobers had called the greatest ever where every Test match was completed in the last over of the fifth day.

The second day's play swayed between the desultory and the delightful, with India taking stumps 501 adrift of Australia's imposing first-innings total with nine precious wickets still in hand.

Jaisimha's Test career spanned over 12 years, from 1959 to 1971 and in his very second Test, he set a world record batting on all five days (20 not out and 74) and earning a draw for India against the formidable Australia in 1960.

India's seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second Test at Cape Town on Thursday was the 25th instance when a Test match ended inside two days, dating back to 1882. This was also the third time India were involved in a two-day Test, with the other two being their match against Afghanistan and England. This is the shortest completed Test match ever in terms of overs bowled (642 balls - 107 overs), bettering the previous best (656 balls - 109.2 overs) that involved Australia and South Africa at the MCG way back in 1932.

Since we haven't seen much of Bradman it would be better to take a look at two of his big innings by going through what it looked like to people then.