Born on September 25, 1946, in Amritsar, Punjab, Bishan Singh Bedi remains one of India’s most iconic cricketers and one of the finest left-arm spinners from India. A master of graceful bowling, Bedi was the leading figure in chapters of Indian cricket. Together with Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bedi cast a web that gave tough matches to batsmen across the globe.
Bedi and his rocket arm are famous for his incredible and phenomenal Ranji Trophy season in 1974 in which he dominated every aspects of domestic cricket.
Bedi made his international debut on the 25th of December, 1966, against the West Indies at Eden Gardens, a cricket ground amongst the most popular. Bedi played 12 years of test cricket and was able to capture 266 wickets at an average of 28.71. His bowling was both elegant and artistic with a lot of variation and control.
Bedi's achievements on the cricket field were considered outstanding, especially in areas of artistry and elegance. A few of his finest performances were in away series, particularly the one in Australia in 1977–78 in which he reached 31 wickets and took match figures of 10 for 194 at the WACA ground in Perth, which is his highest set of figures as a bowler.
Along with such success during bowling, he was even the captain of the Indian cricket team for 22 matches that he led with pride and determination. He was even an outstanding player and sportsman even when he led the team for 10 One Day Internationals which again adds to his record as he was related to the game in such a way after the test.
For a person as accomplished as he was, his performance was identified early in his life by the Government of India with the Padma Shri in 1970, which was an extremely unusual thing for someone in his line of work at that time. Domestically as well as playing for Northamptonshire in England, he managed to bag 1,560 first class wickets which was a record for an Indian bowler.
Bedi was renowned, for a person so vocal and having such a strong opinion for such a distinction, for the effort that he put in with cricketers where he could offer advice and assistance to young players. Bedi was also the first one to leap in for the sake of the game which he did following his retirement, as he participated in cricket in general.
On his birthday people of Punjab and cricket enthusiasts consider Bishan Singh Bedi a first-class cricketer and spin wonder and still holds him in great esteem as a gentleman of the game because his soft nature and spin magic is an inspiration not only during his era but also to various generations in the future.