Bishan Singh Bedi was Indian cricket’s greatest moral voice: Michael Holding offers his tribute | Cricket News

My early memories of running into Bishan Bedi weren’t exactly pleasant.It was the controversial 1976 Test series in West Indies and in particular, the Sabina Park game, where Bishan was the captain and declared the second innings with five wickets in hand. Bishan and India didn’t like the amount of bouncers we bowled in that game.
I was a kid, doing my thing, and I didn’t quite warm-up to Bishan then. A few months later, on our tour of England, I would run into him at Lord’s. He was there, warming up with his Northamptonshire county teammates, and we were at the nursery end, about to get into our training. I remember turning and looking in his direction, and he sort of looked away as if he didn’t want anything to do with me!

I could understand his anger though. My own Mother hadn’t liked what I bowled at Sabina Park, giving me a flipping tongue lashing at the end of that game. ‘Mikey, those are human beings. How can you bowl bouncers? That’s not good.What gets into your head when you have the ball’. All I can say, ‘Momma, but that’s cricket.’ She didn’t like it.
She hated it. She never watched boxing for the same reason. If she could react like that being a West Indian, I could see why Indians who were at the receiving end react the way they did.

Luckily for me, I would get to know Bish closely in the coming years. I remember both of us were in the same team – the Cavaliers XI – on a tour of Pakan in the early 80s, put together Rohan Kanhai. It was supposed to act as a preparation for Pakan who were about to tour Australia as I remember playing with Kookaburra balls in that series. That’s when I really got to know Bish, and began to appreciate and respect the man.

Let me put it this way, Bishan Singh Bedi was the greatest moral voice of Indian cricket. Bish liked to be morally right; not popularly right. He was never afraid of giving opinions; it was his opinion and he said it the way he saw it. I like that about people and like to think I am similar to him in that vein. He never looked to get something out of the game any means. A man of morals who didn’t care if his views weren’t popular.
He is one of the great romantics of the game; he genuinely loved the sport and was wary about the negative tentacles spreading around it. He was morally against all things that were bad. That’s the way you need to be. You don’t need to be afraid to speak out. He never was. The secret to that confidence is he knew he was speaking the truth to the power. Truth is something to never be afraid of.

He was also popular wherever he went. In the West Indies, the fans loved him; even his colourful turbans were a hit. Because of the heat and the sweat, he would often change them every session and the crowd liked it. His bowling of course was great; he was a genius. I remember being always confused about his tricks and also have heard many great batsmen genuinely rave about his art. How the ball would seemingly be there – but not quite there when you reach out for it. Oh, he was a great bowler, a master, no doubt about it.
Bishan Singh Bedi released the ball like a loose-limbed yogic, every cell choreographing and culminating in that action of gods. The pivot was a pirouette, the follow-through is so smooth you wonder whether he had one at all.
He was popular in Pakan, Australia, and England of course where he played county cricket – and was this magnet of attraction among cricketers. You tended to gravitate towards him; he had that kind of personality – the sense of humour, the laughter, and above all the fine brave bold mind.
Each time I came to India, I would run into him somewhere. The last time I came to the country was in 2014, and he was in Mumbai for some reason – and our families went out for a lovely dinner. Most Read
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Over the years we have kept in touch; in the smartphone era, we would WhatsApp each other. I was shocked when he fell ill a couple of years ago. I spoke to his wife a couple of times, and once I remember she put us on a FaceTime video chat and though he wasn’t very responsive then – it wasn’t long after his surgery.- it was nice to have a chat. We have a mutual friend who kept me Bish till today in fact. He would constantly send me pictures and videos; I remember seeing a few from his birthday where he was seated on a chair with wellwishers around him.
Bish would always call me, “Mikey boy!”; I would miss that. This isn’t just a loss to Indian cricket but a loss of a true rare moral voice of the sport.
Michael Holding, a cricketing legend from the West Indies, spoke to Sriram Veera