The artist who pushed us

Bishan Singh Bedi in full flight. Pic/Getty Images

An English writer once referred to Bishan Singh Bedi as "poetry in motion." In a way, it did justice to his beautiful, rhythmic, flawless and effortless bowling action. He mastered his craft by honing his bowling skills for hours in the nets. He had the confidence to adjust his line and length, especially if he noticed a batsman stepping out early. With a subtle flick of the wrist just before the ball left his fingers, he could deceive even the best of batsmen who struggled to reach the pitch of his deliveries.

I grew up in Nehru Nagar, Kurla. Although I was a right handed off-spinner, who enjoyed playing tennis-ball cricket, my Nehru Nagar friends still call me ‘Bedi' as he was our idol. Such was his fan-following that we used to collect and paste his pictures in our scrapbook and exchange those pictures for chocolates.

He was a commentator's delight. Broadcasters the world over would never tire from waxing eloquent on his bowling action, variation, deception and the colour of his Patka, which made him stand out in a crowd.

I remember a camp we had in Bangalore in 1983-84. In the nets, Bishan Paaji, as we fondly called him, bowled with such grace and ease that all the other spinners who were bowling along with him appeared to be putting in much more effort than him.

The 1983-84 series against Pakistan - the first after India's 1983 World Cup triumph - opened in Bangalore. It rained during that Test and Bishan being our manager-coach, took the reserves and standby players to the nearby Cubbon Park for an hour-long run around the park.

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He then made us sprint until most of us had no energy left. We returned to the dressing room, and it started drizzling. After lunch, Bishan Paaji took us into a hall for agility drills for another hour. By then, it was tea time. When play was called off due to rain, Bishan Paaji took the entire team for a run on the road next to the Karnataka State Cricket Association rooms for half an hour. He was a taskmaster who pushed cricketers to work hard on their fitness.

Many years later, he came to visit me in Bangalore during my time as head coach of the National Cricket Academy. After seeing us work on improving the cricketing skills of the trainees, he confessed to me, "Balya [as he fondly called me], I think I was not a coach or fitness trainer." I kept quiet, not daring to utter anything like "Yes, Paaji," in the fear of him feeling bad. He broke the silence and said, "I think I was a good motivator." I immediately said, "Yes, Paaji, you are absolutely right."

He was instrumental in motivating the North Zone players, especially those from Punjab and Delhi to work hard on their game, instilling in them the confidence and self-belief that they are the best and can take on anybody in the country. He changed their attitude, and they started playing tough cricket against West Zone and Mumbai. The good work of Paaji was then carried forward by cricketers like Mohinder Amarnath, Madan Lal, Kirti Azad, Maninder Singh and Surinder Khanna and passed it on to the current generation.

I was lucky to be his teammate in veteran series against Pakistan, West Indies, and South Africa. We also toured Canada in 1996 with the veterans team. We were practising before a game at Victoria Island. Now, I just loved watching Bishan Paaji bowl very closely and the interaction during practice was a great learning experience. He said, "Balya, if I could get my follow-through behind the ball, I would not allow these Canadians to score." In the gave, he went about bowling until he felt his body was going nicely behind the ball.

After the game, Bishan Paaji was in his element with his jokes and cricketing stories that would have everyone in splits. He laughter was loud and wholesome and he would narrate funny incidents at his own expense.

He was a man with a great sense of humour and never hesitated to spend and treat everyone without bothering about the bill.

Bishan Paaji would send ‘Sholak' on WhatsApp every morning until poor health struck him. I missed those messages and to think there is no chance of that activity resuming cuts me deep.

May Waheguru bless his soul and I am sure he will continue to motivate and make everyone laugh in his new world. Bishan Paaji, you will always be in our hearts. The world without you will not be as cheerful as you made it.