Bishan Singh Bedi: Cricketer who spun a web and gave 'no quarter'

Bishan Singh Bedi, widely regarded as one of the game’s finest left-arm spinners who bewitched countless batsmen through guile, passed away in New Delhi on Monday after battling prolonged illness. He was 77.

The former India captain was unwell for the past two years, and underwent a knee surgery recently. He is survived by wife Anju, daughter Neha, and son Angad.

“He was a keen student of the game, who had the knack of out-thinking a batsman. One of the finest spinners this game has seen. Absolutely shocked to hear the terrible news,” former India all-rounder Chandu Borde told Business Standard.

Bedi, part of the famed quartet of spinners that included Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, was instrumental in making spin bowling fashionable in the 1960s and 70s, a period when cricket was a turgid affair.

Between 1967 and 1979, Bedi featured in 67 Tests, claiming 266 wickets at an impressive average of 28.7. At the time of his retirement, he was the highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket.

But Bedi was much more than such numbers and statistical nuggets.

Former England captain Mike Brearley described Bedi’s bowling as “beautiful”. Indeed, he was a connoisseur’s delight.

With a gentle amble to the crease, he would tease batsmen with flight, and con them with pin-point accuracy.

He was also legendary for clapping every time a batsman hit him for a six. Bedi was truly an artist at work, who beguiled batsmen and viewers in equal measure.

Off the field, Bedi was known to be fiercely combative, who often attracted controversy for his outspoken views.

In 1990, Bedi — as the manager of the Indian team that lost to New Zealand in a one-day international game — got so incensed that he famously remarked: “Throw the entire team into the Pacific Ocean.”

In December 2020, Bedi objected to the installation of a life-size statue of former Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the premises of the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium (now Arun Jaitley Stadium) in the national capital.

The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) was embroiled in a series of financial scams when Jaitley served as the administrator.

“Bedi sahib was a principled man. He was the only cricketer who protested because he was sure what was happening was wrong,” Kirti Azad, former India all-rounder and a member of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning squad, told Business Standard.

Bedi never missed an opportunity to vent his vitriol against the famed Sri Lankan off-spinner Mutthiah Muralitharan, and accused him of chucking.

In 2002, Bedi had said: “If Murali (Muralitharan) does not chuck, show me one bowler who bowls.”

As a captain, Bedi was known to stand up for his players. During the infamous Test against in Kingston in 1976, he declared at 97/5 because he feared the hostile bowling by the West Indies would seriously injure his players.

Bedi’s obstinate declaration meant West Indies would require only 13 runs to win the game and eventually win the series 2-1.

In 1974, he was dropped for a Test match against West Indies in Bengaluru. The decision followed an interview with the BBC in which the cricketer offered some uncharitable comments against the administrators after India’s loss to England earlier in the year.

Two years later, he accused former England pacer John Lever of using Vaseline on the ball (which helped it swing extravagantly) to gain unfair advantage.

Former cricketers revere him for being a strict disciplinarian, who gave “no quarter”.

“The foundation of North Indian cricket was laid down by Bedi sahab. He taught us how to fight. During the 1970s and 1980s, Mumbai was the hub of Indian cricket. He would always tell us if you want to get into the Indian team, you have to do well against them. If you messed up on the field, he didn’t care if you were Madan Lal or Mohinder Amarnath, you would receive flak from him,” Azad recalled.

For all the bluster and show of a tough exterior, Azad said Bedi was a “softie” at heart, who encouraged talented players if they did well.

“During the 1979-80 Ranji Trophy final between Bombay and Delhi, I scored a century (for Delhi), which helped us win the title. Bedi sahab was so impressed by my batting that he opened his kit and gifted me his cricketing gear,” Azad explained.

“Mind you, back then, he was playing county cricket in England, and his gear was imported. So, it was a huge pat on the back for a young player like me,” said Azad, who met the septuagenarian last at his residence.

“He was in a wheelchair, but his humour was intact. He used to bowl to me,” Azad added.

Borde said he regretted not being in touch with the legendary cricketer in the last 12 months.

“I called him on his birthday (September 25) last year. Since then, I had not been in touch with him. Earlier this year, when Kapil Dev met me in Pune, he told me that Bedi was unwell,” Borde said.

At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bedi kept himself busy by devouring reams of cricket literature.

“Cricket literature is the elixir of life,” he said.

In life and in death, it was his unflinching love for the game that defined Bedi.