Opinion Bishan Singh Bedi and the rise of modern Indian cricket

Indian cricket lost its eternal romantic on Monday. Bishan Singh Bedi was not only one of the greatest spinners the country has produced, but also one of its greatest personalities. There was no more artful a practitioner of left-arm orthodox spin than Bedi in his prime. His run-up comprised slow, measured strides; the action was smooth and fluent. It was part of the larger scheme of deception as he deliberately slowed things down and made the batsman wait. He would then tease him with flight and drift, before he foxed him with drop and turn. The trickery was multilayered, and it fetched him 266 wickets at 28.71 in Tests, besides 1,560 scalps at 21 in first-class cricket. He purchased wickets in every corner of the cricketing globe and was instrumental in conceptualising India’s first Test victories in England and West Indies, in 1970-71.

But Bedi was more than just a cricketing great. Jovial and amiable, he made friends for a lifetime and left a lasting impression on the shores he set foot on. His captaincy was largely unsuccessful, but he drilled into his team a sense of identity, and led from the front as he showed the way. The rise of modern Indian cricket began during his time. He sowed the seeds of fight and bravado and always stood up for his men.

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He was also a man of strong opinions, a reason he had his share of critics too. Often, he was outspoken, famously dismissing Muttiah Muralitharan as a “shot-putter, whose wickets are all run out in my eyes”. He would deride his own under-performing team after a defeat in the Rothmans Cup to Australia at Christchurch in 1990 when he was the manager: “The entire team should be dumped into the Pacific.” Later, he wanted his name to be removed from the stands after Arun Jaitley’s statue was installed at the Feroz Shah Kotla, later renamed after the politician. He had zero tolerance for chucking and looked upon the doosra-bowling off-spinners with scepticism. But to those he loved, he gave his heart, life and soul — just as he did to Indian cricket.