[ad_1]
Bad news has come for India between World Cup-2023. India’s legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi passed away on Monday. Bishan Singh was also the captain of India. A left-arm spinner, Bedi was not only known for his brilliant spin, but also for his unassuming attitude. Born on 25 September 1946, Bedi used to trap batsmen badly in his flight. He made his debut for Northern Punjab at the age of 15. In 1967, he made his debut for India against the West Indies. At that time he was only 21 years old.
Bedi later shifted to Delhi and stayed there and played domestic cricket from here. He played 67 Test matches for Team India and took 266 wickets. Bedi made his ODI debut in 1974 and played 10 matches for India in which he took seven wickets. If we look at Bedi’s first-class career, he took 1560 wickets in 370 matches. He took 71 wickets in 72 List-A matches.
A spinner made from a pacer
Bedi initially wanted to be a fast bowler but his team captain in Amritsar, Gurpal Singh, asked him to take up spin bowling and he became a spinner from then on. Suresh Menon has written in the biography of Bedi that Bedi used to play kanche and from there his power of throwing spin became stronger. They took spin seriously and practiced for hours at the net. Menon wrote that Bedi could bowl six consecutive balls at a fifty-paise coin and the batsman would not even realize that the ball was coming from a different angle each time.
A stir in Perth
It is said about Bedi that the hallmark of his bowling was his control. It was Bedi who showed his power of spin on the Perth pitch in Australia, which is believed to be helpful for fast bowlers. India toured Australia in 77/78 and in Perth Bedi took five wickets for 194 runs. Bedi took a total of 31 wickets in this series. In 1981, Bedi retired from international cricket. Bedi played his last Test against England at the Oval. He played his last ODI in 1979 against Sri Lanka in Manchester.
The BCCI mourns the sad demise of former India Test Captain and legendary spinner, Bishan Singh Bedi.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and fans in these tough times.
May his soul rest in peace 🙏 pic.twitter.com/oYdJU0cBCV
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 23, 2023
Great work done in West Indies
Bedi was also the captain of the team. Under his captaincy, India toured the West Indies in 1976 and chased down a target of 406 runs in the fourth innings at Port of Spain under Bedi’s captaincy on this tour. In the next match, West Indies fielded four of their fast bowlers and these bowlers used the bouncer ball extensively against the Indian bowlers. Many Indian batsmen were injured. Bedi objected to this action of the West Indies and declared the innings for two wickets. Pakistan’s Sarfraz Nawaz also bowled a lot of bouncer balls in the match against India. Bedi also got angry at this and left the match.
Allegation of applying vaseline on the bowler
Bedi used to express his views without any fear. He did something against England that surprised the bowlers. He accused English bowler John Lever of applying Vaseline on the ball during England’s tour of India in Chennai (then Madras) in 76-77. He was also the coach of the Indian team.
[ad_2]