Bishan Singh Bedi Remembered in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2024

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2024 has allocated 77 pages to obituaries to “celebrate 200 lives”, but exceptionally Bishan Singh Bedi merits four of them.

Lawrence Booth, who has been editing Wisden since 2012 while doubling as a cricket writer on the Daily Mail, told The Telegraph: “We had no hesitation in dedicating four pages of the obituaries section in the 2024 Almanack to Bedi. He was a giant of the game, in more ways than one – a superbly elegant left-arm spinner who liked to lure batsmen to their doom, and a fearless voice who had little time for some of the less justifiable methods of the game’s administrators. We may never see his like again.”


Wisden says that Bedi, “who died on October 23, aged 77, was one of a small group of cricketers who played with such grace, elegance and charm that he elevated the game almost to an art form. Bedi breathed the same rarefied air as Victor Trumper, David Gower Michael Holding and Kumar Sangakkara, more likely to make crowds sigh with pleasure than shout in triumph. He was a talisman for India for over a decade, bowling left-am spin of subtle variations, confounding batsmen with a beguiling mix of flight, loop and turn.”

It records that that when the English spinner Jim Laker, a legend himself, was asked about his idea of paradise, he replied: “Lord’s bathed in sunshine, with Ray Lindwall bowling from one end, and Bishan Bedi from the other.”

Meanwhile, Salim Aziz Durrani has been given a page and a half.

Wisden says that Durrani, “who died on April 2, aged 88, was a charismatic Indian left-hander who was restricted by selectorial whim to 29 Tests during a long career. Among those mystified by his lack of recognition was India’s wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer: ‘Durani was an excellent all-rounder, a flamboyant character, a great bowler – in fact I thought he was one of the best. He could turn the ball on any wicket, and was a very attractive batsman. A very entertaining player, and a good-looking chap – he even appeared in a film later on.’ ”

This is the 161st edition of Wisden, long regarded as the cricketing bible. It comprises nine sections spread over 1,552 pages.

At one level it is an exercise in pure nostalgia, for looking through it on a lazy afternoon, old men can recall their cricketing schooldays. Collectors pride themselves on gathering as many editions as possible. Its yellow cover is distinctive.

In the preface, Lawrence observes: “It was a momentous year for the women’s game, with the foundation of the Women’s Premier League in India and the ECB’s decision to pay female international cricketers as much as the men. Women’s Test cricket has become slightly less invisible, too: for the first time, the Almanack includes a list of births and (where known) deaths of the 719 players who by the end of 2023 had appeared in the format.”

Lawrence explained to The Telegraph: “The WPL is a game-changer for women’s cricket, as is often the case when India become involved. The first two editions of the tournament have played out to packed houses, and the money on offer for the players takes cricket, for female athletes, to another level entirely.”

Arjun Singh’s photo of three Rajasthan Royals players (Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel) colliding as they attempt to catch Gujarat Titans’ batter Wriddhiman Saha in the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad on April 16, 2023 – it was picked out of almost 500 entries – has been announced as the winner of the Wisden Photograph of the Year competition.

Chris Smith, chair of the expert panel of judges and former chief sports photographer of The Sunday Times, hailed “this terrific photo”.

“Their collision knocked the ball further down the pitch where the bowler, Trent Boult, who is out of the photograph, caught the ball,” revealed Patrick Eagar, also on the panel.

This year, Nat Sciver-Brunt has become the first English woman to be named Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World.

Among men, Pat Cummins is the first Australian to be named Leading Cricketer in the World since Michael Clarke in 2012.

Harry Brook and Mark Wood of England are among the Five Cricketers of the Year, along with three Australians: Ashleigh Gardner, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Starc. Another Australian, Travis Head, has won the Wisden Trophy for the year’s best Test performance.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.