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‘You will be missed immensely Bish’, say legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi’s friends
He had been unwell for a long and was last seen in public during the screening of movie “Shabaash Mithu”, sitting beside cricketer Mithali Raj at cinemas in New Delhi last summer.
“I have been calling him everyday for a long time to enquire about his wellbeing. I got a bit late in calling him on Monday and came to know that I would never be able to hear his voice again. His passing away is a huge loss and I am going to miss him dearly. So many memories with him. Go well Bish,” said former India all-rounder and Bishan Singh Bedi’s close friend Madan Lal in an emotional tone.
Bedi (77) breathed his last in Delhi, a week after the legendary India left-arm spinner underwent knee operation.
He had been unwell for a long and was last seen in public during the screening of movie “Shabaash Mithu”, sitting beside cricketer Mithali Raj at cinemas in New Delhi last summer.
Bedi’s love-affair with cricket started back in his hometown when he was a student at St Francis School in Amritsar. Even though there was no connection with sports or cricket in his family, Bedi rejected the textile business run by his father at Putlighar in Amritsar only to become an ace Indian spinner who along with three others Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chandrashekhar and S Venkataraghavan collectively ruled world cricket in their era.
A student of Hindu College in Amritsar, Bedi considered his coach Gyan Prakash as his godfather. His ferocious left-arm spin helped his college, North Zone and Panjab University win many cricket tournaments before a match between Prime Minister XI and the visiting West Indies in 1966-67 team changed his fortunes eventually resulting in India Test debut.
Bedi then was named in PM XI and he grabbed six wickets against Gary Sobers’ robust West Indies team, leaving then BCCI selection committee chairman Lala Amarnath spellbound. Even though he was not named in the India team for the Test series against WI, he was asked to join the Indian team by Amarnath as practice bowler. As luck would have it, at the last minute he was included in the team owing to an injury to Bapu Nadkarni and made his Test debut at the Eden Gardens against WI, where he picked up two wickets.
“Thereafter, there was no looking back for Bishan. He had impressed the selectors and became a permanent bowler of the Indian team for the next decade,” said former Punjab Ranji Trophy cricketer Ashok Khanna who was Bedi’s close childhood friend. Former India player Vijay Mehra was the first international cricketer coming from Amritsar followed by Bedi, a trend later followed by Madan Lal, and the Amarnath brothers — Mohinder and Surinder.
He also captained the Indian team in 22 Test matches. Bedi was an active cricketer from 1967 to 1979, featuring for India in 67 Tests, taking 266 wickets. He also played for India in 10 ODIs, bagging seven wickets.
“I was inducted in the State Bank of India in 1966. Till then, he had not made his India debut. So, he was worried about his professional life. He kept asking me the route to fetch a job in the SBI. The next year, he joined SBI as a probationary officer and was stationed at New Delhi,” said another close cricketer friend from Amritsar, Tilak Raj Gupta.
He played a significant role in shaping up Delhi cricket after he quit playing for Punjab in the last 70s.
He brought Madan Lal, Surinder and Mohinder Amarnath from Punjab and Chetan Chauhan from Maharashtra and built Delhi’s team in pursuit of winning Ranji Trophy which eventually they did under Bedi’s captaincy.
“He is North India’s cricket godfather. He contributed a lot to Punjab and Delhi cricket. He never minced words too. He called a spade a spade,” added Lal.
Infact, Punjab also owes its only Ranji Trophy win in 1993 in Ludhiana to Bedi who came to Punjab in the mid 80s to work on the state team. He brought an in-form Delhi-based cricketer Gursharan Singh to Punjab who captained the Punjab team to Ranji Trophy win. Bedi was the chief coach of the team.
His first marriage to Glenith an Australian bore two kids and he named his son from that marriage as Gavasinder Singh, after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. However, his first marriage did not last long and he married Anju after many years.
Bedi is also known for asking the BCCI to pay the Indian team members more when he was the captain. Under his captaincy, an Indian cricketer started getting ₹5,000 as fee for playing a Test match. During his career, he has also been a national selector and coach of the India team for New Zealand and England in 1990. Bedi made instant headlines as cricket manager when he suggested that he could get the entire squad thrown in the Pacific Ocean. This was in response to the side failing to chase a modest total against Australia in a tri-series game on that tour. He was heavily criticised for his comment.
In the 2000s, he worked tirelessly to clean up Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) administration. “His contribution is enormous to Indian cricket. His giggles will always be remembered, so will be his charm,” felt Lal.
Mann, Kejriwal, Khattar condole death of Bedi
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, his Haryana and Delhi counterparts, Manohar Lal Khattar and Arvind Kejriwal, condoled the death of former India captain and one of the greatest left-arm spinners, Bishan Singh Bedi.
The Punjab Cricket Association also mourned the demise of the legendary cricketer, describing him as the greatest spinner the country has produced.
