Bishan Singh Bedi

Bishan Singh Bedi (sometimes spelt as Bishen Singh Bedi) born September 25, 1946 in Amritsar, is an Indian former cricketer who specialised in slow left-arm orthodox bowling. He played Test cricket for India and formed part of the famous Indian spin quartet. He also captained the national side in 22 Test matches. Bedi is known for being outspoken and forthright in his views on cricketing matters.

As captain of India, Bedi's personality inevitably led to some controversies. One famous controversy occurred during a match against the West Indies in 1976 when he objected to the intimidatory tactics of the West Indian fast bowlers and declared the Indian first innings closed early after two players were forced to retire hurt. Subsequently, five players were absent hurt in the second innings of the match.[1]

In Indian domestic cricket, Bedi first played for Northern Punjab and then later for Delhi. In the 1974-75 season of the Ranji Trophy, he took a record 64 wickets. Bedi also represented Northamptonshire in English county cricket for many years. He finished his career with 1560 wickets in first-class cricket — more than any other Indian.

In 1990, he had a brief stint as coach of the Indian national team. He was the first person to be appointed to this job in a full-time capacity. Following one cricket tour where India had played poorly, he famously threatened to dump the entire team in the sea on the return journey[citation needed].

Bedi is strongly opinionated on many aspects of modern day cricket. In particular, he is a vehement critic of the bowling action of Muttiah Muralitharan which he bluntly refers to as cheating and likens to a javelin throw.[2]

He once famously bowled Colin Cowdrey in a first-class match and remarked "I like your style of batting!"[citation needed]. His son, Angad Bedi has also represented Delhi in the Ranji Trophy.