October 29th 2023.
Today India are in action against England in their sixth Cricket World Cup game, and the Indian players are wearing black armbands as a mark of respect to former captain and legendary spinner, Bishan Singh Bedi, who passed away last Monday aged 77 following a prolonged illness.
India have enjoyed a perfect start to their World Cup campaign with five wins from five to cement themselves as the favourites to get their hands on the trophy next month. In contrast, England are all but out of the competition having lost four of their opening five fixtures in what has been a dismal defence of their title.
Bishan Singh Bedi played 67 Tests for India between 1966 and 1979, claiming 266 wickets and captaining the side on 22 occasions. He had a career-best bowling figure of 7/98 against Australia in Calcutta in 1969/70 and his best match figure was 10/194 in Perth in 1977/78. He was also a part of the legendary Indian spin quartet, which comprised of Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and took 853 wickets in just 231 Test matches.
Bedi played a role in India’s first ever victory in ODI history and was the highest Indian wicket-taker in First-Class cricket with 1,560 wickets in 370 games, mostly for Delhi. He was also one of the most decorated overseas players in English County cricket, playing 102 times for Northamptonshire between 1972 and 1977, during which he claimed 434 wickets – the most by an Indian player in the English domestic game.
India are today paying their respects to one of their legends and honoring his legacy. Bishan Singh Bedi was a true great of the game, and his contribution to cricket will never be forgotten.
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