Cricket's narrative is often told through its illustrious champions, Bradman, Sobers, and Tendulkar, but sometimes, the essence of the game is captured in a moment.
As during India’s first-ever tour of Australia in 1947–48, when a little-known Indian wicketkeeper named Probir Kumar Sen, or P. Sen did the unthinkable — he stumped the great Don Bradman.
For a debutant team stepping boldly into the intimidating world of Australian cricket, Bradman represented a figure of legend. But on a hot day in Adelaide, a young, calm, collected, and unfazed P. Sen chose that moment to act.
Bradman, with his outstanding footwork and seeming invincibility, hopped down the pitch just a bit too far. In one motion, Sen caught the ball and whipped off the bails, leaving Bradman and the crowd shocked.
Probir ‘Khokan’ Sen, barely out of his teens, was selected as the reserve to first-choice keeper Jenny Irani, playing in some of the practice matches against Australian state sides. By the time the tour came to a wrap, Khokan Sen had earned plaudits from the Australian cricket writers, ex-players and audiences for his brilliant glovework.
At the dawn of newly independent India, P. Sen's nimbleness to react quickly and bravery mattered even more than out-stumping the great Bradman; it was symbolic that the country could hold its own against the game's best.
While P. Sen's name did not attain the celebrity of those who played with it, he did register himself among Indian cricket's first great moments. The man who stumped ‘The Don’ became part of a story that was larger than sport: one of pride, self-belief, and the birth of a cricketing nation.
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