BISHEN SINGH BEDI - THE LEGEND

Born on 25 September 1946 at Amritsar in Punjab, Bishen Singh Bedi was one of the best left-arm spinners of his time and the most popular cricketer, both with the crowds and with his opponents, Christopher Martin-Jenkins described Bedi as "the most subtle and artistic slow left-arm orthodox bowler of his generation". He was one of the four famous spin quartet of Indian cricket: Prasanna, Venkat and Chandrasekhar being the other three. Bedi being of a different variety, he was always a permanent fixture, the other three often having to sit out a match or two. An alumnus of two prestigious colleges of Amritsar, Khalsa College and Hindu College, Bedi was honoured With the Arjuna Award in 1969 and the Padma Shri in 1970. He also has the distinction of being invited by the United Nations to speak against apartheid in sports, where he was introduced by the then Nigerian Chairman of the Committee as 'One of the finest spin bowlers in the world'.Encouraged by father Gian Singh, coached by Professor Gian Prakash and nurtured by his college captain, Gurpal Singh, later to play for Railways and Punjab, Bishen Singh Bedi was a rare success at both school and college level. His most outstanding display was recorded against Delhi in the North Zone Inter-University final at Meerut in 1965.Bedi began his Ranji Trophy career with North Punjab but later migrated to Delhi in 1968-69. He played 76 Ranji Trophy matches from 1961-62 to 1980-82, capturing 402 wickets and conceding 6,012 runs. His best bowling feat of 7 for 5 and 13 for 34 was performed against Jammu & Kashmir in 1974-75. He achieved a hat-trick against Punjab in 1968-69. He led his side in 47 Ranji Trophy matches. He also captained North Zone in the Duleep Trophy and led his side in three of the Irani Cup matched he played.Though he had already tasted cricket at the international level, having played for North Zone against the touring M.C.C, team under Mike Smith, his success story at the highest level began with a 6 for 139 performances for Board Prestdent’s XI against the all-conquering West Indies at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground 1966. So impressed were the selectors that he was promptly included to play in the Calcutta Test against West Indies the same year. That was the beginning of a career, which was to have a very big affect on Indian cricket in the next decade and more.Bedi played 67 Tests till 1979, bagging 266 wickets at the average of 28.71. He led India in 22 Tests. His most notable success was achieved during the series against Bobby Simpson’s Australian team. India lost a closely fought five-Test series 2-3 but more than anything contributed considerably to saving Test cricket after Kerry Packer had "hijacked" the world's leading stars.Source : "India's Highest Sports Awards and Those Who Won Them" by S.S.Gandhi, The Defence Review