Former Singapore cricket team captain Stacey Muruthi remembers the over he faced from Bishan Bedi at the Padang on Feb 10, 1978. He swept the first two balls from the legendary Indian spinner to the boundary.
“But then he kept pitching it outside leg,” said Stacey, who is now 71. “And I was not sure whether I should play a shot or defend.
“I blocked three balls. Then the sixth one, he pitched it again outside leg. I let it go. The ball spun viciously and hit my stumps. I was bowled around my legs.”
Bedi, who died on Monday at age 77, was considered one of the game’s greatest left-arm spinners. He was a connoisseur’s delight, renowned for the classical beauty of his action and his ability to maintain a perfect length over long spells while subtly varying his pace, trajectory and release.
“The fluency of his approach to the wicket was a delight to watch,” said Stacey. “He had the knack of bowling different balls with the same action. He was of a higher class to the bowlers I have faced.”
Singapore finished on 183-8 in the drawn match, after the full Indian Test team, who were on the way home after losing a Test series 2-3 to Australia, declared at 257-5.
P. Ishwarlal, who opened the batting for Singapore and scored 15, said “Bedi’s ball control was phenomenal”.
“I faced six balls from him and was beaten five times,” said the 74-year-old. “From his arm action, it looked like all the balls would land at the same spot and do the same thing. But he had the magical ability to impart great variation and spin, and I found it difficult to read him. All six balls looked like it was coming from a different bowler. He was simply outstanding.”
Bedi took 3-15 in 12 overs, before almost the entire Indian team came on to bowl.
The Straits Times’ former writer Percy Seneviratne observed: “When Bedi came on at the SRC end, with the score on 27, the game moved from placid pace to mesmerising spin. The left-arm spinner had a rich variety, at times making the ball dart off the seam as if possessed and at other times deceiving the batsmen with calculated length and flight.
“The Indian spinner, wearing a mauve turban, tweaked and turned the ball, which the Singapore batsmen found difficult to handle.”
Bedi represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs from 1967 to 1979. He was India’s highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 266 at an average of 28.71, at the time of his retirement.
Along with the unorthodox legspinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and offspinners Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bedi made up the celebrated spin quartet that dominated Indian cricket in the 1970s.
The charismatic Bedi, who spoke his mind and was admired by players from all over the world, also led India in 22 Tests, winning six, including three overseas.
On the domestic front, Bedi led Delhi in four Ranji Trophy finals, winning two – in 1978-79 and 1979-80. He also won a third Ranji title, in 1992-93, this time as coach of Punjab, who beat Maharashtra by 120 runs in the final.
Former Singapore captain and batsman Munish Arora, who was a member of that winning Punjab team, said: “Phaji (Bedi) was a mentor, coach and father figure to me. He not only taught me the skills of the game but also discipline on and off the field.
“After we won the trophy, he and the then Punjab Cricket Association president I.S. Bindra, got us jobs at Punjab Communications in Mohali. I worked there for 10 years before coming to Singapore.”
Munish, who is now 52, is the cricket coach at Global Indian International School.
Bedi the coach was uncompromising. On receiving an award from Bedi in 2017, Virat Kohli recounted how the senior focussed on fitness. “Many people have been able to succeed because of that,” said Kohli.
Bedi is survived by his wife Anju (nee Inderjit), their daughter Neha and son Angad, as well as his son Gavasinder and daughter Gillinder from his previous marriage to Glenith Miles.
