Together, they cast many a spin web that left opponents bamboozled and led India to several Test victories. Bowling in tandem with Bishan Singh Bedi, with whom he featured in 43 of his 49 Tests, played a significant role in the success Erapalli Prasanna, one of the greatest off-spinners to have played the game, had in his career. It was a familiar sight to see Prasanna, having plotted the dismissal of yet another hapless batsman, running to Bedi at mid-on, the smiles on their faces saying it all.
For Prasanna, Bedi’s demise is a personal loss. But the 83-year-old preferred to reminisce about Bedi’s personality on field and the sporting moments he shared with the left-arm orthodox legend who passed away in New Delhi on Monday aged 77.
Prasanna spoke to The Telegraph on Tuesday.
First, Bishan the bowler. Well, I don’t need to say much as everyone knows how great a bowler he was. But yeah, there’s one way in which I would put it. You know, I would call him a bit of a sadist in the way he made batsmen feel miserable at times out there in the middle. Before being dismissed, they struggled and struggled against him, having hardly any scope to score a run or two.
Such was their harrowing time against Bishan.
Besides that, I would wish to highlight how Bishan came across as a man with a dashing personality. In other words, I would say his personality used to be one of his most unique features. Be it on the field or off it, that personality would stand out. And most of the time, one would be amazed by it.
By no means was his personality intimidating though. Such was his attitude and approach that one could go up to him and talk with him and discuss about anything one felt important or something that needed to be addressed or sorted out. I don’t recall if any one of the players during our playing days felt hesitant to approach him and talk about anything.
Even the youngsters then felt a lot more assured in his presence. What the young players used to rely a lot on was his advice to them. He never barred them from being expressive. Rather, he used to keep encouraging and motivating them to express themselves more, play as a team and think as a team. Doing so, he would say, helps to bring the best out of a player. I must say he used to be quite popular among the youngsters during our time.
As a captain too, he was no less aggressive. Play to win and fight till the very last ball of the match: that used to be his mantra and he used to say so all the time. To him, it was that kind of approach which meant and signified aggression. Obviously, that rubbed off on us as well as he was immensely competitive on the field, coming across as someone who wouldn’t spare an inch to the opposition. No wonder there was some kind of joy playing under Bishan’s captaincy.
Now, to talk of bowling alongside him, well, there are so many instances that made us happy and me proud as well. What I would lay emphasis on is Bishan’s constant urge to make sure I too went for wickets bowling from the other end.
He would never want me to focus on checking the run flow while he kept attacking from one end. That was a complete no-no. When bowling in tandem, we’ll have to strike from both ends. He was very particular about it.
In fact, that’s the best way to operate in a Test match. That yielded us results
as well. Some truly memorable ones.
