Bishen Bedi is 75 today-how great?

[Harsh Thakor]

 

 

Today legendary Bishen Singh Bedi is 75.Without doubt one of the greatest spin bowlers or left arm bowlers of all time.There were bowlers who turned a cricket ball more but very few who were more artistic or as deceptive in flight.Bedi was part of the quartet that turrned a new epoch in Indian cricket from 1971.Bedi's bowling was sheer poetry in action,as rhythmic as a ballad dancer.Rarely did any bowler master left arm flight as Bishen.Very few spinners created such subtle variations of flight.Simply the epitome of grace.

 

Quoting Mike Brearley".A few easy rhythmic steps ,perfectly balanced,and he moved smoothly into the delivery stride.His run up was not too long There was no sense of striving,nothing rushed or snatched,no hiccups,just an essay flow.Like most great bowlers his variation was subtle.No slow bowler required you to commit yourself later,as Bedi."

 

Bedi made his debut for Northern Punjab in the Ranji troph y at the age of 15.He played in 67 tests ,capturing 266 wickers at an average of 28.71.He excelled representing Northamptonshire from 1972 to 1977,twice taking 100 or more wickets in a season.He led India in 22 tests from 1975 to 1977 ,always placing more emphasis on wining,than a drawing.Even though only 6 matches were won,Bedi was agression personified on the field.

 

Bedi was at his best when capturing a record 31 scalps in a five tests series in Australia,which all but won India the rubber.His turn and flight was tantalizing for the Aussie batsmen,winning 2 tests mathches for India by overwhelming margins.Although India lost 3-1 in 1976-77 at home agaisnt England,Bedi took 25 wickets.simply bowling like a workhorse.One must never forget Bedi's monumental contribution in India winning their 1st ever series in West Indies and England in 1971.

 

Bedi was involved in 2 major controversies n his lifetime.The first was when protesting against the West Indies bouncer barrage at Kingston,the 2nd was against the Englishman using vaseline.Morally,I feel he was correct on both occasions.In West Indies,India may well have won the series but for unfair West Indies tactics which injured the Indian batsmen.

Bishen Bedi,was arguably the best spin bowler of the 1970's ahead of Derek Underwood.Derek was unplayable on bad wickets,but not the same proposition or as effective as Bedi on unhelpful tracks.

 

Sadly the 1978 tour of Pakistan precipitated the decline of Bishen,after which he had to forfeit the captaincy,with India receiving a 2-0 thrashing.

Bedi has been rated amongst the 70 best cricketers of all time by John Woodcock and Cristopher Martin Jenkins or even Geoff Armstrong.Overall I rate Bedi only 2nd to Subash Gupte ,amongts Indian spinners,and above likes of Kumble,Chandrashekar.Harbhajan etc.I also feel she deserves a place amongst the 10 best spin bowlers of all time.Averaging under 30 with the ball speaks for itself. and capturing 266 scalps.

 

Above all one of cricket's great gentleman ,upholding sportsmanship at any cost.Few cricketers possessed such a philosophical touch.

 

I can;t forget an incident when Bedi was labelled as a traitor by the Indian press,after he advised Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed on the approach to bowl,on the penultimate day of the Bangalore test in 1987,which was the decider.Bedi simply told them that the pitch would do the tricks and to apply the basics of bowling.This displayed his character.

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Harsh Thakor

[Majestic]

Top 10 spinners of all-time:-

 

1. Shane Warne

2. Muttiah Murlaitharan

3. Jim Laker

4. Richie Benaud

5. Bill O'Reilly

6. Anil Kumble

7. Ravichandran Ashwin

8. Hedley Verity

9. Bishan Singh Bedi

10. Saqlain Mushtaq

 

 

 

[Adamant]

Top 10 acc to me (post 1970) -
1. Muttiah Murali
2. Shane Warne

CountryMile

3. Ravi Ashwin
4. Anil Kumble
5. Rangana Herath
6. Bishan Singh Bedi
7. Bs Chandrasekhar
8. Saqlain Mushtaq
9. Derek Underwood
10. Graeme Swann

[Jay]

1 hour ago, Harsh Thakor said:

 

 

Today legendary Bishen Singh Bedi is 75.Without doubt one of the greatest spin bowlers or left arm bowlers of all time.There were bowlers who turned a cricket ball more but very few who were more artistic or as deceptive in flight.Bedi was part of the quartet that turrned a new epoch in Indian cricket from 1971.Bedi's bowling was sheer poetry in action,as rhythmic as a ballad dancer.Rarely did any bowler master left arm flight as Bishen.Very few spinners created such subtle variations of flight.Simply the epitome of grace.

 

Quoting Mike Brearley".A few easy rhythmic steps ,perfectly balanced,and he moved smoothly into the delivery stride.His run up was not too long There was no sense of striving,nothing rushed or snatched,no hiccups,just an essay flow.Like most great bowlers his variation was subtle.No slow bowler required you to commit yourself later,as Bedi."

 

Bedi made his debut for Northern Punjab in the Ranji troph y at the age of 15.He played in 67 tests ,capturing 266 wickers at an average of 28.71.He excelled representing Northamptonshire from 1972 to 1977,twice taking 100 or more wickets in a season.He led India in 22 tests from 1975 to 1977 ,always placing more emphasis on wining,than a drawing.Even though only 6 matches were won,Bedi was agression personified on the field.

 

Bedi was at his best when capturing a record 31 scalps in a five tests series in Australia,which all but won India the rubber.His turn and flight was tantalizing for the Aussie batsmen,winning 2 tests mathches for India by overwhelming margins.Although India lost 3-1 in 1976-77 at home agaisnt England,Bedi took 25 wickets.simply bowling like a workhorse.One must never forget Bedi's monumental contribution in India winning their 1st ever series in West Indies and England in 1971.

 

Bedi was involved in 2 major controversies n his lifetime.The first was when protesting against the West Indies bouncer barrage at Kingston,the 2nd was against the Englishman using vaseline.Morally,I feel he was correct on both occasions.In West Indies,India may well have won the series but for unfair West Indies tactics which injured the Indian batsmen.

Bishen Bedi,was arguably the best spin bowler of the 1970's ahead of Derek Underwood.Derek was unplayable on bad wickets,but not the same proposition or as effective as Bedi on unhelpful tracks.

 

Sadly the 1978 tour of Pakistan precipitated the decline of Bishen,after which he had to forfeit the captaincy,with India receiving a 2-0 thrashing.

Bedi has been rated amongst the 70 best cricketers of all time by John Woodcock and Cristopher Martin Jenkins or even Geoff Armstrong.Overall I rate Bedi only 2nd to Subash Gupte ,amongts Indian spinners,and above likes of Kumble,Chandrashekar.Harbhajan etc.I also feel she deserves a place amongst the 10 best spin bowlers of all time.Averaging under 30 with the ball speaks for itself. and capturing 266 scalps.

 

Above all one of cricket's great gentleman ,upholding sportsmanship at any cost.Few cricketers possessed such a philosophical touch.

 

I can;t forget an incident when Bedi was labelled as a traitor by the Indian press,after he advised Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed on the approach to bowl,on the penultimate day of the Bangalore test in 1987,which was the decider.Bedi simply told them that the pitch would do the tricks and to apply the basics of bowling.This displayed his character.

 

I am starting to like harsh. Even though he is biased towards Pakistani players, his writeups are quite nice. 

 

His dislike for Indian players though is noticeable but he tries his best to applaud deserving players of Indian origin. 

 

But I will say this my bro. Pakistan no longer has the greatest pace attack from Asia. It is the current Indian pace attack. Best Asian pace attack ever from Asia. 

 

You guys held the coveted title till 2016. Things changed since. 

 

 

[Jay]

50 minutes ago, Majestic said:

Top 10 spinners of all-time:-

 

1. Shane Warne

2. Muttiah Murlaitharan

3. Jim Laker

4. Richie Benaud

5. Bill O'Reilly

6. Anil Kumble

7. Ravichandran Ashwin

8. Hedley Verity

9. Bishan Singh Bedi

10. Saqlain Mushtaq

 

 

 

No saqlain? Qadir? 

[Jay]

13 minutes ago, Adamant said:

Top 10 acc to me (post 1970) -
1. Muttiah Murali
2. Shane Warne

CountryMile

3. Ravi Ashwin
4. Anil Kumble
5. Rangana Herath
6. Bishan Singh Bedi
7. Bs Chandrasekhar
8. Saqlain Mushtaq
9. Derek Underwood
10. Graeme Swann

What about erappuli prassana? 

[Majestic]

22 minutes ago, Jay said:

No saqlain? Qadir? 

Saqlain is in the list. Qadir is overrated as he averages 30+ with bowl and poor away record.

[Khota]

Bishen Bedi was good. Very very good. besides his spin ability he cleaned DDCA which was toothless organization. He made Delhi into a power house by geting deserving players at the top like Madan Lal and Mohinde Amarnath.

 

He could have taken more wkts but he was bowling alongside with Chandrashekar, Parsanna, raghvan and that was not easy as they were the best.

[Khota]

Harsh is nice guys and his write ups are fine. We all have biases and so does Harsh. It is best to deal with Harsh in a professiona manner rather than belittleing him.

 

Nice writeup Harsh @Harsh Thakor and thanks for contributing.

[Khota]

Also no shame in  mentioning that John Lever was a cheat. 

[speed_thrills]

Ah, here is my cure for insomnia. Thanks Harsh.