Bishan Singh Bedi passes away: Anil Kumble remembers a hard task master who was also a ‘softie’

“In 1990, before the England tour, we had a camp in Bengaluru, and it was there that I had the first experience of Bishan paaji’s big heart and generosity,” Kumble wrote on X.

“I had requested him if it would be possible for the Indian team to visit RV College of Engineering, where I was a student. I was only a rookie, and it could have been construed as an over-enthusiastic request from an excited youngster, but in a fantastic gesture, Bishan paaji readily agreed and brought the whole team over to the college. That made a lasting impression on me,” he added.

Kumble would then share an incident from the India tour of England, when he was unable to meet Bedi’s expectations during the morning training session – feeling strain owing to jet-lag from his late arrival in the country from his engineering exams.

“I remember him saying in his inimitable style, ‘Come on son, you have weak legs.’ He summoned my good friend Venkatapathi Raju, instructed him to sit on my shoulder and told me to do baithaks. I could hear my back go! That’s Bishan paaji – uncompromising, to go with his heart of gold.”

Kumble further added on Bedi’s persona, which would continue to impact him as well as Indian cricket even after the latter left his role with the BCCI.

“Whenever anything surrounding Indian cricket transpires, he immediately reaches out, sometimes with a helping hand, at others with a biting remark. I love that he calls a spade a spade, that he is happy to speak his mind even if it doesn’t always sit well with everyone. He has an opinion that he stands by, come what may. He is a very spiritual man, and many of his messages reflect that side of his persona, too,” he’d add.