Indian cricket great Bishan Singh Bedi breathed his last at the age of 77 after a prolonged illness. Bishan Singh Bedi was a left-arm spinner who also captained the Indian team in 22 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 a total of 7 wickets. Widely considered as one of the finest spinners India have had, Bedi was among the architects of India's spin bowling revolution. He, along with Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar, and S. Venkataraghavan, played an important role in India's first-ever ODI victory. Bedi's figures of 12-8-6-1 held East Africa to 120 runs in 1975 World Cup.
In domestic cricket, Bedi primarily played for the Delhi team. After retirement, he worked as a coach and mentor for several budding Indian cricketers. Away from the cricketing field, he also worked as a commentator and pundit in the Gentleman's Game.
Often seen as a critic who refused to mince his words, Bedi was an outspoken character when sharing his views on certain topics in the game.
Cricketers, including former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, paid tribute to the legendary spinner. "Bishan singh bedi One of our best is no more. It's a loss to our cricketing fraternity. My deep condolences to his family," Irfan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Bedi was briefly the manager of the Indian cricket team in 1990 during tours of New Zealand and England. He was also a national selector and mentor to many talented spinners like Maninder Singh and Murali Kartik, who all swore by his technical insight.
With PTI inputs