Bishan Singh Bedi passes away: India's legendary spin icon dies at 77

In a tragic loss for Indian cricket on Monday, spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi passed away aged 77 in New Delhi. Bedi, who was part of the famous Indian spin quartet of the 1970s and is considered one of the country’s greatest cricketers of all time, passed away peacefully at his residence in the national capital, his family confirmed. Bishan Singh Bedi passes away: ‘One of our best’, ‘moral beacon for all’ and more tributes Bedi had been suffering from a prolonged illness and had undergone several surgeries, most recently on his knee. He is survived by his wife Anju, son Angad and daughter Neha. Union Sports Minister and former BCCI president Anurag Thakur was among those offering their condolences. “Former captain and a bowler forever remembered by the nation, Bishan Singh Bedi ji is no more. It’s a tragic news and a huge loss for the cricketing world. The cricket fraternity stands united with his family in their loss,” Thakur said in a statement on Monday.

The Amritsar native collected 266 wickets with his left-arm orthodox spin in 67 Test appearances in a career spanning 12 years starting with a home series against Garry Sobers’ West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata (then Calcutta). Those 266 wickets are part of the 1,560 First-Class that he would finish with from 370 appearances, a majority of those coming for Delhi and Northamptonshire in the Indian and English domestic circuits respectively.

He was part of the Indian spin battery alongside Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chadrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan that formed the core of their bowling unit for more than a decade. Bedi also represented India in 10 one-dayers, including in the 1975 and 1979 World Cups in England. He was part of the Indian XI in their first-ever win in ODIs, against East Africa in Headingley in the 1975 World Cup. Bedi’s figures of 12-8-6-1 were the most economical as India bowled East Africa out for 120, with the Srinivas Venkataraghavan-led side chasing the target down with all 10 wickets intact. He also led India in 22 Tests, including in the 1978-79 tour of Pakistan where one Kapil Dev would go on to make his debut. India would win six of those 22 Tests, two of them coming in the 1977-78 tour of Australia, to go with 11 defeats and five draws. Bedi also led India in four ODIs, winning one and losing three. He would also serve as the manager of the Indian cricket team later after retiring from the sport in 1990 during their tours of New Zealand and England. Bedi was also known for not mincing his words and was quite outspoken as far as expressing his opinions was concerned, often confronting authorities on a myriad of issues from defending players’ rights to slamming corruption and mismanagement. Bedi would later have a stand named in his honour at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, formerly known as the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.