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NEW DELHI: A Baggy Green cap worn by Australian batting icon Don Bradman during the home Test series against India in 1947-48, and later gifted to Indian cricketer Sriranga Wasudev Sohoni, was sold for a staggering USD 460,000 at an auction on Monday.

Sohoni’s family had safeguarded the cap for nearly 75 years, never putting it on public display, before it went under the hammer through Lloyds Auctions. The Baggy Green carries the Australian cricket coat of arms, with “1947-48” embroidered beneath it.

Bradman’s final home series

The 1947-48 series against India was Bradman’s last Test assignment at home before he retired in 1948, finishing with a legendary batting average of 99.94 that cemented his status as the greatest batter the game has known.

That series also marked India’s first-ever Test tour of Australia after gaining independence.

Led by Lala Amarnath, the Indian side came up against a powerful Australian team captained by Bradman. The hosts dominated the contest, sealing a 4–0 series win, with one Test ending in a draw.

‘Holy grail of cricket’

Describing the cap as the “holy grail of cricket” during the auction, Lee Hames, chief operating officer of Lloyds Auctioneers and Valuers, said Sohoni’s "dying wish was to have the cap return to Australian shores", according to a report in The Guardian.

“It has been hidden for 75 years, that’s over three generations under lock and key,” Hames was quoted as saying.

“If you were a family member you were only allowed to look at it when you were 16 years old for five minutes.”

A spokesperson from Lloyds Auctions confirmed that the cap will remain in Australia and “will be put on display at a prominent museum”.

Inside the cap, the names “D.G. Bradman” and “S.W. Sohoni” are inscribed.

The report added that bidding for the Baggy Green began at just USD 1 and attracted strong interest from collectors attending in person and online from Australia, India and the UK. The cap eventually sold for USD 460,000, excluding a 16.5% buyer’s premium.

“Cherished in the family collection ever since, this cap links you to Don Bradman’s invincible era and a memorable exchange with the Indian squad,” the auction description stated, as per the report.

“A baggy green he personally gifted, carefully preserved by the same family for 75 years and still in remarkable condition, is a piece of history with genuine national importance and one rarely seen outside private hands.”

Rare company among Baggy Greens

Only 11 Bradman Baggy Greens are known to exist from a time when Test cricketers wore a new cap for each series, unlike the modern era.

Bradman’s first Baggy Green from his 1928 debut season fetched USD 450,000 at auction in 2020. The cap he wore on his final tour of England in 1948 sold for USD 425,000 in 2003 and was later resold for around USD 400,000 in 2008.

In 2024, another Bradman cap, described as “sun faded and worn”, was auctioned for USD 479,700, setting a record for a Baggy Green worn by the legend.

However, the highest-ever price for a Baggy Green belongs to Shane Warne, whose cap raised USD 1,007,500 for the Australian Red Cross bushfire appeal in 2020.

(With PTI Inputs)