The passing of the former India captain and left-arm spinner, who played 67 Tests and was regarded as one of the sport's great figures, has sparked an outpouring of affection from across the world, writes PHIL CAMPBELL
Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi has died aged 77.
Bedi had been suffering from a prolonged period of age-related illnesses and had also undergone various operations in recent years.
Born in 1946, the left-arm spinner, widely considered to be one of the great spin bowlers, represented India between 1967 to 1979, playing 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, taking 266 and 13 wickets respectively.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) led the tributes to Bedi, posting on X (formally known as Twitter): "The BCCI mourns the sad demise of former India Test captain and legendary spinner, Bishan Singh Bedi.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and fans in these tough times. May his soul rest in peace."
Sachin Tendulkar spoke of his admiration for Bedi in a post on X which read: "'Sashu,' he'd say with warmth that only he possessed. To Bishan Paaji, I wasn't just another cricketer; I was like a son.
"Under his nurturing guidance, I scored my first 100 in England. On chilly NZ evenings, we'd sit over meals, and I'd hang on to every story he told, every piece of wisdom he shared.
Defined by his graceful action, Bedi played 67 Tests for India (Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
"Today, there's an echoing silence where his voice used to be. The world seems a little emptier without you, Paaji. Rest in the eternal peace you so deserve."
Virat Kohli, currently part of India's Cricket World Cup campaign, also posted on X: "Deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Bishan Singh Bedi ji. My condolences to the family."
Known for wearing brightly coloured patkas, Bedi, having made his Test debut against the West Indies in 1966 aged 20, went on to form part of India's famous quartet of spin bowlers alongside Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan during the 1970s.
His best Test figures came in 1969 when he took 7 for 98 against Australia in Kolkata. Bedi won six of the 22 Tests he captained, including a remarkable victory in 1976 against the West Indies in Trinidad, as India chased down 403, a record that lasted 27 years.
During his career, Bedi played domestically for Northern Punjab and Delhi, winning two Ranji Trophies with the latter.
He also spent five years in England between 1972 to 1977, plying his trade at Northamptonshire where he took 434 wickets and helped them win the Gillette Cup in 1976 – the club's first domestic trophy.
Bedi, with Ian Botham standing at the non-striker's end, bowling against England at Lord's in 1979 (Adrian Murrell/Allsport)
He played his last Test match against England in 1979 and his 266 Test wickets was a record for an Indian bowler at the time.
Upon his retirement, Bedi finished with 1,560 first-class wickets, the most of any Indian bowler.
Bedi had a penchant for not shying away from speaking his mind when he felt necessary.
Whilst captain, he declared in India's first innings at Sabina Park in 1976 in protest against what he thought was intimidatory bowling from the West Indian fast bowlers.
In 1977, he clashed with England fast bowler John Lever over the alleged use of Vaseline to alter the state of the ball and the following year Bedi conceded an ODI against Pakistan because he was unhappy with Sarfraz Nawaz's short-pitched bowling.
Bedi was recognised by many for having a graceful and artistic bowling action, feelings echoed by former West Indian fast bowler Ian Bishop.
Bishop wrote on X: "Saddened to hear of the passing of the legendary Bishan Singh Bedi.
"Many of my predecessors in the Caribbean spoke of his guile and skill as a bowler and competitor in reverential tones."
Bedi helps induct Courtney Walsh into the ICC hall of fame in 2010 (Pal Pillai/Getty Images)
The talent Bedi had with the ball was also hailed by former England captain Mike Brearley, who once wrote of him: "The first epithet that comes to mind for Bishan Bedi's bowling is 'beautiful'. More than with any other slow bowler, this is the word that stays.
"Like most great bowlers, his variation was subtle. Of all the slow bowlers of Bedi's time, none forced you to commit yourself later than he did. With tiny, last-second adjustments of wrist and hand-angle, he could bowl successive balls that looked identical, perhaps as if each would land on a length just outside off stump,"
"But with the first he would cock his wrist more, deliver the ball slightly higher - it would spin sharply, stay wider of off, and be shorter than you anticipated. The next ball, ever so slightly undercut and a little quicker, would pitch further up and come in towards middle and leg stumps.
"To the first ball you were likely to play inside the line, and away from the body; to the second, outside the line, and round your front leg, so that there was a risk of an inside edge onto the pad. The error of judgment induced in the batsman could be as much as a yard in length and a foot in width.
"And he could make these changes according to what he sensed the batsman was trying to do, in the moment of delivery, so firm and balanced were his action and rhythm."
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