A warrior, rebel, crusader and guardian Sikh of Indian cricket lost his last battle

New Delhi: “Nowadays coaches use laptops more than their ‘neck top’ (brain),” Bishan Singh Bedi told this writer during a conversation in a cricket camp at Jamia Millia Islamia campus.

He had never been confused. 

Bedi’s views, comments, and observations were never sugar-coated, but straightforward and crystal clear. 

Bedi, who called 800 wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan a shot putter and javelin thrower on more than one occasion, was a rebel and crusader inside and outside the ground.

A slow left-arm orthodox spinner in a trademark pink or blue turban, Bedi, is no more. He died at 77 on Monday. He has been struggling with ailing health for the last few years.

“He was like an elder brother on and off the field who had no fear of the system for supporting or protecting his teammates," said Dhiraj Parsana, who was also a slow-arm, left-arm orthodox spinner of the Bedi era. “He always played the role of guardian. This is sad news for me; I have so many wonderful memories with him.”

Following the 1978–1979 disastrous tour of Pakistan, Indian selectors sacked Bedi as captain. Parsana was selected for the West Indies tour in his place.

“I remember that once we were both travelling on the same flight to England,” remembered Parsana. “I was going to play county cricket for Durham. Bedi Saheb told me about the weather there and told me how to protect myself from the cold. He suggested clothing, food, and about how to bowl in those conditions, which proved helpful. He was a fighter who could have been involved in a fight with the entire system for his teammates and the game."

Bedi had accused England pacer John Lever of tempering the ball by using Vaseline for swing during the India tour in 1977.

In 1978, Bedi forfeited the one-day match against Pakistan when India required just 23 runs from 14 balls with 8 wickets remaining.

Bedi took that bold but controversial decision, as Pakistani pace bowlers were bowling bouncers excessively. Angry Bedi alleged umpires were partisan in that match.

This writer produced a documentary, Last Goodbye to 22 Yards, on Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement in 2014.

This writer invited Bedi as a chief guest for a show organized for the media at the Press Club of India. He was just recovering from knee surgery, and the show was in the conference room on the first floor. 

 "I can't climb stairs as I have bad knees,” Bedi told this writer then. “But this film is about the greatest cricketer ever; I will come. Agar kuch ho jay to mujhe nichey tum hi utaaroge (If anything happened to me, only you have to get me down). He came and watched full movies and then also took questions from the media about the film.

He took about ten minutes to climb 12-15 odd staircases with the help of a walking stick in great pain, and he was struggling to breathe also, but he was there because of his love for cricket and affection for Sachin.

“He inspired a whole generation of modern spinners,” said Parsana. “This is a great loss for Indian cricket.

Bedi played 67 Tests for India during his 12-year career and picked up 266 wickets. He also took seven wickets in 10 one-day internationals.