The mortal remains of Bishan Singh Bedi were consigned to flames at the Lodi Road crematorium here on Tuesday with a sea of former and current cricketers in attendance to pay their tributes.
Many broke down when Bedi’s body was brought from his home ‘Cricket Abode’ in South Delhi. Wife Anju, son Angad, daughter Neha, daughter-in-law Neha Dhupia, son-in-law Gautam, cricketers Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Kirti Azad, Gursharan Singh and Kartik Murali were the pallbearers.
Bedi, 77, passed away on Monday following prolonged illness.
Madan Lal was heartbroken. “He was my Ustad. He taught me to dream big and work hard to make them come true. He was instrumental in giving shape to career by advising me to shift to Delhi from Amritsar. A great human being.”
Apart from hockey greats Ajitpal Singh and Gurbax Singh, a galaxy of cricketers descended on the Capital to be part of Bedi’s final journey. Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Rahul Sanghvi flew down from Mumbai, along with anchor Gaurav Kapur.
“I would meet him with Angad and it was cricket education always,” remarked Zaheer.
“Bishan Paaji was an epitome of cricket culture. He was strict and he was also warm-hearted, giving an ear to your problem. There will not be another like him,” said Nehra.
“He was the coach when I first became India captain,” said Mohammad Azharuddin.
“He was also responsible for me making my debut in the 1984 series (against England). His cricket wisdom was unmatched.”
Virender Sehwag presented a poignant picture. “He was a guiding force for all of us. My coach when I was made captain of the Delhi team. There was so much to learn from him,” said Sehwag.
Maninder Singh was crestfallen. “A part of me has gone with him. I looked up to him for support and he never disappointed. In fact, Bedi paaji was the reason for me bowling left-arm spin.”
For Ajay Jadeja, it was an introspection that took him back in time when Bedi would interact with him to drive home the importance of training and discipline.
“His stories of fitness are legendary and I have experienced them first-hand,” noted Jadeja, who took time off from his duties as a mentor with the Afghanistan team in the ongoing World Cup.
An emotional Surender Khanna, who had a long association with Bedi as a Delhi team member and a colleague at the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), said, “Truly the end of an era. Salute to my mentor. May you rest in peace and power. Bishan paaji was one of the greatest to have played the game. Blessed and honoured to have played under and with you. He shaped North India’s cricket to be what it is today.”
Some others who paid their tributes were film star Sharmila Tagore, former Test cricketers Sarandeep Singh and Chetan Sharma, former Haryana and North Zone off-spinner Sarkar Talwar, First Class cricketers Akash Lal, Arun Khurana, Pradeep Jain, Vinay Dutt, Kunaal Lal, Sandeep Joshi, Atul Mohindra, Parvinder Awna, Gautam Wadehra, Tilak Raj and Sukhvinder Singh.
