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Former India captain and legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi died at the age of 77 on Monday. Bedi represented India from 1966-79, and was part of their famous spin quartet, which also consisted of Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar.
He played a total of 67 Test matches, and registered 266 wickets, also captaining the side in 22 games.
Reacting to this death, the BCCI took to Twitter to share their ‘thoughts and prayers’. “The BCCI mourns the sad demise of former India Test Captain and legendary spinner, Bishan Singh Bedi. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and fans in these tough times. May his soul rest in peace,” the BCCI wrote.
Here are five-lesser known facts about Bishan Singh Bedi:
1. Bedi began his domestic cricket career at the age of 15, with Northwestern Punjab, taking up the sport only two years earlier.
2. He holds the world record for the most economical bowling figures in a 60-over ODI match among bowlers who finished their quota of overs, bagging figures of 12-8-6-1 in the 1975 World Cup.
3. Bedi once decided to forfeit an ODI match between India and Pakistan, as the opposition bowlers were bowling bouncers excessively. He took the decision when India only needed 23 from 14 balls, and with eight wickets in hand.
4. He coached the Indian team briefly in 1990, and is also their first full-time coach in history.
5. He was a huge critic of Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan, due to this spinner’s bowling style.
Bedi’s best Test bowling was 7/98 against Australia in Calcutta in 1969-70. His best first-class bowling was 7/5 for Delhi, against Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi (1974-75). His highest score of 50 not out, his only fifty at Test level, was smacked vs New Zealand in Kanpur in 1976.
He was appointed captain of India in 1976, succeeding Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. In 2008, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack named Bedi as one of the five-best cricketers to have not been selected as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
