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Bishan Singh Bedi (; born 25 September 1946) is a former Indian
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er who was primarily a
slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of Finger spin, left-arm finger spin bowling (cricket), bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bow ...
bowler. He played
Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...
for
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
from 1966 to 1979 and formed part of the famous
Indian spin quartet The Indian spin quartet is the collective name given to the Indian cricket spin bowlers of the 1960s and 1970s: Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan (both off spinners), Bhagwat Chandrasekhar (a leg spinner), and Bishen Singh Bedi (a l ...
. He played a total of 67 Tests and took 266 wickets. He also captained the national side in 22 Test matches. Bedi wore a colourful
patka A dastār ( pa, ਦਸਤਾਰ/دستار, from fa, دستار; ''dast'' or "hand" with the agentive suffix -ār; also known as a ਪੱਗ ''paga'' or ਪੱਗੜੀ ''pagaṛī'' in Punjabi) is an item of headwear associated with Sikhism, ...
and has voiced outspoken and forthright views on cricketing matters. He was awarded the Padma Shri award in 1970.


Playing career

In Indian domestic cricket, Bedi first played for Northern Punjab when only fifteen, having taken up cricket only two years previously, a particularly late age for this sport. He moved to
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
in 1968–69 and in the 1974–75 season of the
Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...
, he took a record 64 wickets. Bedi also represented
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
in English
county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...
for many years. He finished his career with 1560 wickets in
first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
—more than any other Indian. His bowling has been described as graceful, even beautiful, and full of guile and artistry. He was an expert in flighting the ball, and was capable of making it hold it back or hurry forward and added subtle variations of spin. His action was so relaxed and coordinated that he was able to bowl all day with rhythm and control, a great asset to any captain. He had several very successful Test series:Peter Arnold, ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Cricket'', WH Smith 1985 * India vs Australia 1969–70: 21 wickets at the average of 20.57 * India vs England 1972–73: 25 wickets at the average of 25.28 * I ndia in the West Indies 1975–1976 : 18 wickets at the average of 25.33 * I ndia vs New Zealand 1976–77: 22 wickets at the average of 13.18 * India vs England 1976–77: 25 wickets at the average of 22.96 * India in Australia 1977–78: 31 wickets at the average of 23.87 His best Test bowling was 7/98 against Australia at Calcutta in 1969–70, and his best match figures 10/194 at Perth in 1977–78, also against Australia. His best first class bowling was 7/5 for Delhi vs Jammu and Kashmir at New Delhi 1974–75. Although his batting was poor he hit a boundary off the second last ball in the Gillette Cup Semi Final for
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
vs
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, winning the match by two wickets. His highest score of 50 not out, his only half century at Test level, was scored against New Zealand in Kanpur in 1976. Bedi was appointed captain of India in 1976, succeeding
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi Nawab Mohammad Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (also known as Mansur Ali Khan, or M. A. K. Pataudi; 5 January 1941 – 22 September 2011; nicknamed Tiger Pataudi) was an Indian cricketer and a former captain of the Indian cricket team. Pataudi was a ...
. His first Test victory as captain was against the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
at Port-of-Spain in the 3rd Test of the 1976 series in which India scored a then-record 406 in the fourth innings. This was followed up by a 2–0 series victory over New Zealand at home. However, after successive Test series losses to England (3–1 at home), Australia (3–2 away) and Pakistan (2–0 away), he was replaced as captain by
Sunil Gavaskar Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...
. Bedi is second to
Lance Gibbs Lancelot Richard Gibbs (born 29 September 1934) is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player (after Fred Trueman) to pass 300, the first spi ...
in terms of maiden overs per test, 16.35 against 16.62. He has bowled 4.2 maiden overs per wicket as against 4.24 by Gibbs. In 2008,
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
named Bedi as one of the five best cricketers to have not been selected as a
Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
. He said that he has always washed his own clothes, calling it "the best exercise for your shoulders and fingers", when pointing out that spin bowling requires suppleness of limbs.


Controversy

As captain of India, Bedi was involved in some controversies. Following India's record-breaking run-chase in the 3rd Test of the 1976 series against the West Indies, the West Indies opted for an aggressive four-man
fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...
attack for the 4th Test. Bedi objected to their tactics of bowling beamers because they couldn't get Indian batsmen out, and declared the Indian first innings closed early after two players were forced to
retire hurt A substitute in the sport of cricket is a replacement player that the umpires allow when a player has been injured or become ill, after the nomination of the players at the start of the game. The rules for substitutes appear in Law 24 of the ''La ...
. Subsequently, five players were absent hurt in the second innings of the match. In England's tour of India in 1976–77 he
accused Accused or The Accused may refer to: * A person suspected with committing a crime or offence; see Criminal charge ** Suspect, a known person suspected of committing a crime * The Accüsed, a 1980s Seattle crossover thrash band *''The Accused'', a ...
John Lever John Kenneth Lever (born 24 February 1949) is an English former international cricketer who played Test and One Day International cricket for England. Lever was a left-arm fast-medium bowler who predominantly swung the ball into right-handed ...
of using
Vaseline Vaseline ()Also pronounced with the main stress on the last syllable . is an American brand of petroleum jelly-based products owned by transnational company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soa ...
to illegally polish the ball in the Third Test at Madras. Lever wore Vaseline strips on his forehead to keep the sweat out of his eyes; he was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing. In November 1978, he became the first captain to concede an international cricket match. In a
One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
against
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
at Sahiwal(Pakistan), India with 8 wickets in hand, required 23 runs from 14 balls. Bedi, however, recalled the batsmen from the crease and conceded the match in protest at the bowling of
Sarfraz Nawaz Sarfraz Nawaz Malik ( Punjabi, ur, ) (born 1 December 1948) is a former Pakistani Test cricketer and politician, who was instrumental in Pakistan's first Test series victories over India and England. Between 1969 and 1984, he played 55 Tests a ...
who had bowled 4
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in succession with not one being called
wide WIDE or Wide may refer to: *Wide (cricket) *Wide and narrow data, terms used to describe two different presentations for tabular data *WIDE Project, Widely Integrated Distributed Environment *Wide-angle Infinity Display Equipment *WIDE-LP, a radio ...
by the umpires.


Coaching

In 1990, after he had managed a tour where India had played poorly, he threatened to dump the entire team in the sea on the return journey.


Opinions on modern-day cricket

Bedi has expressed strong opinions on many aspects of modern-day cricket and has been described as "being jealous of modern day great spinners". In particular, he was a vehement critic of the bowling action of
Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional c ...
("if Murali doesn't chuck, then show me how to bowl") which he bluntly referred to as cheating and likened to a javelin throw and shot putting, saying that Muralitharan would "complete 1000 Test wickets but they would count as mere run-outs in my eyes". He takes a very dim view of chucking, which he calls "a bigger threat than bribing and betting" and claimed in 2004 that many bowlers on the subcontinent chuck, calling Muralitharan a "Sri Lankan bandit closing in on a dream artist called
Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australia ...
". He has stated, though, that he has nothing personal against Muralitharan, although Muralitharan has threatened to sue him. He levelled the same criticisms against his countryman
Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980) is a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha and an Indian retired cricketer and cricket commentator, who played for the Indian national cricket team from 1998 - 2016. Singh was a right-arm spin bowler. In India ...
. Regarding suspect actions in cricket, he said "When a bowler is chucking, he's referred to panels and the home cricket board. Why not do the same for a wide or no-ball, then?". He has accused one-day cricket, modern cricket bats and small grounds of causing a decline in classical spin bowling in India. He has also attacked
Sunil Gavaskar Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...
, calling him "a destructive influence". He said to Australian coach John Buchanan "Tell us, John, have you made this Australian team great, or have they made you?"


Records

* Bedi holds the world record for the most economical bowling figures in a 60-over ODI match amongst the bowlers who had completed their quota of overs (12 overs). In the 1975 World Cup, when the bowlers were allowed to deliver 12 overs, Bedi finished with 12-8-6-1 (overs-maidens-runs-wickets) against East Africa at Headingley.


References


Sources

* Robinson, R. (1979) ''The Wildest Tests'', Cassell Australia: Stanmore. .


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedi, Bishan Singh 1946 births Living people Punjabi people Indian Sikhs Indian cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers Delhi cricketers North Zone cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Northern Punjab cricketers State Bank of India cricketers Indian Universities cricketers India Test cricket captains Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Cricketers from Amritsar Coaches of the Indian national cricket team Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Recipients of the Arjuna Award Indian cricket coaches Indian cricket commentators D. H. Robins' XI cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers