Bishan Singh Bedi: The Sardar of Spin

He was one of India’s spin foursome that took the cricketing world by storm. While Bhagwat Chandrasekhar was a freak, Erapalli Anantrao Prasanna was enticing; Srinivas Vekataraghavan was the supplement to the trio where Bishan Singh Bedi was known for his accuracy.
In his international career spanning 13 years, Bedi played in 67 Tests and led the Indian team in a third of them. Although Bedi started his cricketing career quite late, he finished with 1564 first class wickets which remains an India record. While Bapu Nadkarni holds the world record for bowling 131 balls against England without conceding a run; Bedi’s 16.35 maiden overs per Test is only second best to the West Indian, Lance Gibbs whose record stands at 16.62.
In the inaugural World Cup in 1975, where the matches were of 60 overs each and each bowler could bowl a maximum of 12 overs, Bedi created a record that will perhaps never be equalled. Playing against East Africa, he claimed one wicket at the expense of just six runs as eight of his twelve overs were maiden.

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Gp Capt Achchyut Kumar has been associated with The Teenager Today for more than 50 years as a reader and contributor on varied topics. Having worked in the Indian Air Force and with Forbes & Company Limited, he is now a lawyer in Nainital High Court.