Cricketing fraternity mourns sad demise of former Indian spinner Bishan Singh Bedi

Bishan Singh Bedi picked 266 wickets in 67 Tests and captained India in 22 Tests as well.

Bishan Singh Bedi, a left-arm spinner who was recognized as one of the greatest of all time, passed away on Monday, October 23, 2023. He was married twice and is survived by his four children.

Bishan Singh Bedi was born on September 25, 1946, in Amritsar. In Indian domestic cricket, he played for Delhi and Punjab. Bedi, a real master of his art, made his India debut in the 1967 Test against the West Indies in Kolkata.

He played 67 Tests, taking 266 wickets at an economy rate of 2.14 and an average of 28.71, with a best of 7/98. In the 1960s and 1970s, he formed a strong spin four with leg-spinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and off-spinners Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan.

Bishan Singh Bedi grabbed seven wickets in 10 One-Day Internationals in addition to Tests. In the 1975 World Cup, he was a key figure in India's historic ODI victory over East Africa. His frugal bowling figures of 12-8-6-1 are still considered a record.

He captained India for the first time in the fourth Test match of the 1976 series against the West Indies, announcing the end of the innings when the four-pronged pace attack injured five Indian players in Jamaica.

In November 1978, in Sahiwal, Pakistan, he became the first captain to abandon an international cricket match after Sarfaraz Nawaz bowled four consecutive bouncers and the umpires failed to call any of them wide.

Long after he retired, Bishan Singh Bedi continued to express his views on cricket and non-cricketing issues. He was a harsh critic of the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association's (DDCA) administration in his later years.  

In 2020, he wrote to the DDCA, requesting that his membership be revoked and his name be removed from the stand named after him at the Feroz Shah Kotla, following the DDCA's decision to rename the stadium after politician and cricket administrator Arun Jaitley.

In memory of his achievements on the field for the Indian team, the cricket fraternity paid rich tributes to Bishan Singh Bedi after his sad demise.

Here are some condolence messages:

https://twitter.com/iamyusufpathan/status/1716416789670928714

https://twitter.com/VVSLaxman281/status/1716416760482779460

https://twitter.com/y_umesh/status/1716415391944327199

https://twitter.com/pragyanojha/status/1716411779239297047

https://twitter.com/ashwinravi99/status/1716411208637780379

https://twitter.com/s_badrinath/status/1716410759687946455

https://twitter.com/chopraanjum/status/1716410751374762480

https://twitter.com/robbieuthappa/status/1716409290561605941

https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/1716408833508290813

https://twitter.com/GautamGambhir/status/1716408719133819118

https://twitter.com/azharflicks/status/1716408217235063084

https://twitter.com/cheteshwar1/status/1716407118990045314

https://twitter.com/anilkumble1074/status/1716405904827167168

https://twitter.com/DineshKarthik/status/1716405703106232793

https://twitter.com/ImRaina/status/1716402750479856091

https://twitter.com/IrfanPathan/status/1716399077595009349

https://twitter.com/ChennaiIPL/status/1716417632642150692

https://twitter.com/SDhawan25/status/1716418818925613204

https://twitter.com/M_Raj03/status/1716411333980340539

https://twitter.com/JayShah/status/1716405116142764381

https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1716418063531463103

https://twitter.com/gujarat_titans/status/1716413295106867210

https://twitter.com/KKRiders/status/1716406282188640545

https://twitter.com/JhulanG10/status/1716415520881402280

https://twitter.com/mdsirajofficial/status/1716406087493259302

https://twitter.com/yuzi_chahal/status/1716414892008509473

https://twitter.com/mipaltan/status/1716419679487705207

https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1716405951249744341

https://twitter.com/virendersehwag/status/1716422589730726055