If limited-overs cricket must exist, he preferred that the impressionable stay away. He himself played only ten ODIs, ensured he never corrupted his bowling style for those, and averaged 48 despite the extraordinary figures of 12-8-6-1 against East Africa in the inaugural World Cup. Bedi regarded one-day cricket as “anti-spin-bowling”. To recall him during a limited-overs World Cup is perhaps off key. Bishan Bedi was beauty, generosity, a full life, all we wish sport to be. If he did not exist it might have been necessary to create such a beau ideal, looping the ball in exquisite deceit, applauding the batter when hit for six, laughing when he undoes him, afterwards drinking with his victim into the wee hours, slapping the fellow’s thighs as he regales him with cricket anecdotes, risque jokes and philosophical insights alike. Bishan Singh Bedi is part of our ancestral memory. We all do, those who knew him and those who did not, those who have watched him bowl and those who only know the stories.
Stay tuned with breaking news on HT Channel on Facebook.
