Indian cricket has been graced with innumerable spin maestros. The present generation is not much aware of the genius put on the field by erstwhile legends, and if randomly asked to pick the best spinners to ever don an Indian jersey, the present generation would unassumingly come up with names of Kumble and Harbhajan. It is undeniable that Kumble, Harbhajan and many of their ilks are world-class performers in cricket. However, there is an anomaly in the realm of spin and his name is Bishan Singh Bedi. Bedi passed away last day and had the brightest career among his pals in cricket.

Bedi achieved innumerable feats in first-class cricket and international cricket alike. He also served as the Indian team captain for a short while. He will fall into that rare breed of cricketers who never faltered while expressing their true opinion on any issues. Bedi was forthright and he never minced words and he took pride in that one.

Bishan Singh Bedi made his Test debut in 1966 against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. West Indies batsman Basil Butcher was his first international wicket. Making the event worth remembering, it was legendary Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi's hands that gripped hard to take the catch, to assist in the dismissal. Bedi took 266 wickets in 67 Tests at an average of 28.71 until he ended his career with the wicket of David Gower against England at The Oval in 1979. It was Bedi who replaced Ajit Wadekar and led the team in India's historic series win against England in 1971.

He has also taken seven wickets in ten ODIs. Bedi was also involved in India's first ODI win. That victory was against East Africa in the 1975 World Cup. Erapalli Prasanna, B.S. Chandrasekhar, Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan and Bedi grouped along to revolutionize the Indian spin attack that turned out to be a nightmare for any opposition. The quartet, including Bedi, a left-arm orthodox spinner, worked wonders with spin bowling and unrolled the carpet for posterity.

Bedi's mightiness was in making the ball fly in the air for a long time. For the batsman at the opposite end, it was a herculean task to keep wickets rather than score runs while facing Bedi. So, it is rather not surprising to see Bishan Singh Bedi’s name engraved into the record books as one of the spinners who have bowled the most maiden overs.

Bedi, who took 1560 wickets in 370 first-class matches and entered the record books, bowled 90,315 balls in first-class cricket alone. He played for English county club Northamptonshire from 1972 to 1977, taking 434 wickets in 102 matches to become one of the best overseas players in the club's history. This is the best bowling performance by an Indian in the county cricket. Bedi held the record as the highest wicket-taker in international cricket until Kapil Dev surpassed it in 1985. Bedi is also the first Indian player to complete 200 wickets in international cricket.

In 1976, Bedi replaced Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi as the Indian captain and led the team in 22 games. Bedi's style was to stick to his own opinions. He mercilessly critiqued the bowling actions of Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh and till the last day stood strongly behind his words. Bedi’s aura always lifted the game on an intense level as he always dared to challenge anyone on the field. The name Bishan Singh Bedi should be chiselled into every cricket admirer's mind for his contribution to cricket and to India.