Bishan Bedi passes away

[Lord]

Rest in peace. 

[vvvslaxman]

RIP Bedi.  

[Grand_Design]

RIP. A fearless Indian Test captain and spoke his mind, right or wrong.

[Vilander]

The only reality is this, we come we have our time and pass. Ok shanti. 

[Sandz]

Sad day, another Indian legend passed away. RIP Mr Bedi.

[cricspirit]

R.I.P Bedi Ji.

 

 

[Machine]

Om shanti

[Lord]

 

[nevada]

Amazing bowler with beautiful action. Relied on flight and guile rather than the pitch. Played professionally in England as well as Australia.

[Mariyam]

RIP

 

A fitting obituary by sportstar

[rangeelaraja]

RIP to a great son of India.

[Vk1]

Om Shanti

Edited October 25, 2023 by Vk1

[Harsh Thakor]

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. On that occasion it was simply a bowling carnage ,which caused outrage in Bedi’s mind. Simply a ploy of inflicting injuries, which acted against the spirit of the game.

 

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. Ironically,Pakistan triumphed,in a cliff hanger.Bedi simply told them that the pitch would do the tricks and to apply the basics of bowling. This displayed his non partisan and non chauvinistic character.

 

After his retirement, his zeal and passion for the game still remained undiminished, although his outburst against various aspects of the modern game sometimes made him appear outspoken.

He threatened to dump the Indian cricket team in the sea in 1990, when he was the coach. This was in response to the side failing to chase a modest total against Australia in a tri-series game on that tour.

 

Bedi lterally was the godfather or architect of North Indian or Delhi cricket, shaping the rise of cricketers like Madan Lal, Mohinder Amarnath ,Surinder Amarnath and Gursharan Singh.

 

 

I admired his stand highly of not making the IPL, cricket’s biggest and most lucrative annual event, as a basis or source of selection. To me, it promoted cricket remaining a sport, and not a multi-billion dollar business. He detested players being treated like horses being sold to the highest bidder”. "I don't want to say anything about IPL. “There's not a bigger scam in India than IPL. Nobody here knows where IPL's money comes and goes. The second edition of the IPL happened in South Africa, millions of money was taken out of the country without the permission of Finance Minister," Bedi said at Sahitya Aaj Tak.

[Harsh Thakor]

There were few spin bowlers who turned and looped a cricket ball more deceptively or as artistic in flight. Bedi literally converted spin bowling into an art form.Bedi was part of the quartet that turned a new epoch in Indian cricket from 1971.Bedi's bowling was as rhythmic as a ballad dancer and as tantalising as a snake charmer.Rarely did any bowler master left arm flight as Bishen.Very few spinners created such subtle variations of flight Simply the epitome of grace. Very few slow bowlers were more of a personification of aggression.

 

Bedi took spin bowling versatility or variety to a scale rarely penetrated, capable of bowling 6 completely different types of deliveries. In a very over, he could create a sensation of a complete twist and turn in a novel.Bedi could vary his pace flight, turn and height of a ball.

 

 

Quoting former England skipper 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."

 

Sunil Gavaskar ranked Bedi the best left arm bowler he ever saw, before the advent of Wasim Akram.

 

Remarkably, attack or offensive was permanent feature of Bedi’s bowling, which never resorted to defensive bowling.

 

Bishen Bedi also had the relentless spirit to bowl prolonged spells at the level few slow bowlers could ever surpass Often he would simply chug on like a railway train or toil like an ox pulling a cart.ona field.