Muralitharan’s greatest detractor Bishan Singh Bedi dies at 77

Muttiah Muralitharan and his greatest critic Bishan Singh Bedi

Former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s greatest critic of his bowling action, Bishan Singh Bedi died yesterday after a prolonged illness in Delhi.

Bedi has been an untiring critic of Muralitharan by repeatedly calling him a ‘chucker’ and asking the ICC to ban the bowler’s ‘doosra’ as it was illegal.

Muralitharan called the former Indian captain, a controversy monger and an ordinary bowler who would have been hammered by any batsman if he was playing now. 

Muralitharan retired as the greatest wicket-taker in both Tests (800 wickets) and ODIs (534 wickets).

Bedi was an integral part of a famed quartet of India’s world-beating spin bowlers in the 1960s and 70s which included Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkatraghavan.

A rare outspoken cricketer, Bedi often got embroiled in controversies. In 1976, he declared India’s second innings at 97-5 against Clive Lloyd’s West Indies at Kingston in protest against intimidatory bowling. In 1977, he accused England left-arm fast bowler, John Lever of using vaseline to swing the ball during a tour of India, and the next year, he forfeited a match against Pakistan alleging partisan umpiring.