Bishan Singh Bedi Death: Bishan Singh Bedi, the cricketing legend, and former captain of the Indian cricket team, passed away on Monday (October 23) at the age of 77. Bedi was an iconic spinner renowned for his exceptional skills.
During his illustrious career, which spanned from 1967 to 1979, Bedi represented India in 67 Test matches, leaving a lasting impact with his remarkable performances. He achieved a total of 266 wickets with his slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling. Even though he wasn't a native to the limited-overs format, he did scalp seven wickets in 10 One-Day Internationals that he played for the country.
Bishan Singh Bedi Was Part Of India's Famed Spin-Bowling Quartet
Bedi was part of the famed Indian spin-bowling quartet with the other three being Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar and S Venkataraghavan. The four together made India a strong spin-bowling force to reckon with in world cricket. It is pertinent to note that Bedi played a key role India's first-ever win in One Day Internationals (ODIs) which came against East Africa in the 1975 World Cup.
In his 12 overs in that match, Bedi produced 8 maiden overs, gave away just six runs while picking also picking up a wicket. Bedi's spell kept East Africa down to 120 in a 60-over contest. Bedi played for Delhi in the domestic circles and was the highest wicket-taker in first-class cricket among Indians with his enviable record of 1,560 wickets in 370 matches.
His last international match was against England at the Oval from August 30-September 4, 1979 which ended in a draw. Bedi scalped 2 for 69 in the first innnings of this match while returning with figures of 1 for 67 in the second.
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur was one of the first ones to react to Bedi's passing. "Former captain of Indian Cricket team, Bishan Singh Bedi is no more. This is a huge loss for cricket," he told news agency ANI.