With the passing of the legendary Bishan Singh Bedi, a glorious chapter in India's finest traditions in the art of spin bowling has come to an end.
Bedi, born in Amritsar on September 25th, 1946, was a classical exponent of the artistry of spin bowling and an expert when it came to flighting the ball.
The magic that he could conjure with the ball using his guile, loop and turn made him one of a kind in his heydays.
Having played 67 Test matches and scalped 266 wickets, Bedi was a prominent member of what is famously known as the Indian spin quartet of the 1970s.
The Indian spin quartet comprised the greats Srinivas Venkatraghavan, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Bedi himself.
Bedi, who also captained India in 22 Test matches, was someone who stood out with his colourful patka and forthright and candid views on cricketing matters.
Never afraid to speak his mind and always calling a spade a spade. That was Bishan Singh Bedi.
Bedi's best bowling figures in Test cricket came against Australia in Calcutta in 1969-70 while his best match figures also came against the same opponent in Perth, where he returned 10/194 in 1977-78.
Bedi's cricketing legacy apart from his legendary spin bowling prowess will be that he was India's captain in the famous Port-of-Spain Test of the 1976 series against West Indies, which India won by scoring a record 406 runs in the fourth innings.
The famous Sardar's relevance in Indian cricket could be gauged from the fact that in the year 2008, Wisden Cricketers Almanack named Bedi as one of the five best cricketers to have never won the 'Wisden Cricketer of the Year' Award.
With his straightforward, no-holds barred nature, Bedi has been involved in a fair share of controversies as well.
In the fourth Test of the 1976 series in the West Indies, the home team opted for a four-pronged pace attack to which Bedi objected as they were bowling beamers to Indian batsmen.
In the 1976-77 home series against England, he criticised John Lever of using vaseline to illegally polish the ball in the Chennai Test.
While in 1978, he became the first captain to concede an international match. It happened against Pakistan in Sahiwal where he recalled the batsmen with India needing 23 runs in 14 balls when Sarfaraz Ahmed bowled four bouncers in succession.
Despite all the controversies, Bedi remained the most passionate and genuine lover of the sport and especially spin bowling.
The great man was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1970 and is also the recipient of the prestigious CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
