Bishan Singh Bedi: 5 Lesser-Known Facts About Legendary Indian Spinner

Former India captain and legendary left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi died on Monday at the age of 77 after a prolonged illness. Born in Amritsar, Bedi was also a domestic cricket legend Playing for Delhi, he finished his career with 1,560 wickets in first-class cricket –more than any other Indian in the history of the game. When it comes to international cricket, Bedi featured in 67 Tests for India between 1967 and 1979 and claimed a total of 266 wickets. In 10 ODIs, he bagged 7 wickets in his white-ball career.

Lesser Known Facts About Bishan Singh Bedi:

1. Held the record for bowling the most economical figures in a 60-over World Cup match. In 12 overs, he gave away just 8 runs and picked up a 1 wicket at an economy rate of 0.50 against East Africa at the 1975 World Cup.

2. He once decided to forfeit an ODI match between India and Pakistan as the opposition pacers were bowling bouncers excessively. He took the decision when India only required 23 runs to win from 14 deliveries with 8 wickets in hand.

3. When it comes to maiden overs in Tests, he sits second only to former West Indies cricketer Lance Gibbs, averaging 16.35. Gibbs, on the other hand, averaged 16.62 maiden overs per Test. 
Bedi bagged his best match figures of 10/194 against Australia at Perth in 1978/79. Even today, the pitch in Perth is primarily seen as a pace-friendly wicket.

4. Bishan Singh Bedi also guided the Indian team as a coach briefly in 1990. In fact, he was the first person to be appointed as the team’s full-time coach.

5. Bedi once questioned the action of Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan, saying the spinner can “complete 1000 Test wickets but they would count as mere run-outs in my eyes”.