Erapalli Prasanna on Bishan Singh Bedi: A bowler, a captain, and a friend

Together, they threw numerous spin spells that confused rivals and helped India win multiple Test matches. Erapalli Prasanna, one of the finest off-spinners in history, had a tremendous career because to his bowling partnership with Bishan Singh Bedi, who he appeared with in 43 of his 49 Test matches. Having planned the outing of yet another unfortunate batter, it was a familiar sight to watch Prasanna sprinting to Bedi in the middle of the innings, their expressions conveying their happiness beyond words.

Bedi's passing is a personal grief for Prasanna. Nonetheless, the 83-year-old would have rather reminisced about Bedi's character on the pitch and the athletic moments he experienced with the legendary left-arm orthodox player, who passed away in New Delhi on Monday at the age of 7.

The bowler Bishan comes first. I won't say too much, though, because everyone is aware of his exceptional bowling ability. Well, there is one way I might phrase it. You know, the way he made batsmen feel bad sometimes in the middle, I would almost call him a sadist. They battled and struggled against him, barely able to muster a run or two before being removed.

They had such a terrible time dealing with Bishan.

Aside from that, I would want to draw attention to Bishan's impressionable demeanor. In other words, I would argue that one of his most distinctive qualities used to be his personality. That kind of personality would stick out, whether on or off the field. And for the most part, it would astound one.

But his personality was by no means scary. Because of his attitude and way of doing things, anyone could approach him and talk with him about whatever they believed was important or needed to be addressed or straightened out. I don't remember whether any of the players was afraid to approach him and discuss anything during our playing days.

At that time, even the children felt much more comfortable with him. His counsel to the younger players used to be something they relied much on. He never stopped them from expressing themselves. Instead, he would constantly inspire and motivate them to play as a team, think as a team, and express themselves more. He would argue that this serves to bring out the best in a player. He used to be rather well-liked by the kids back when we were there, I must admit.

He was just as forceful in his role as a captain. His catchphrase, which he used to repeat often, used to be "play to win and fight until the very last ball of the match." He saw that approach as one that denoted and implied violence. That obviously affected us too, because he was a fierce competitor on the field and gave the impression that he wouldn't give the opponents an inch. It makes sense that playing with Bishan as captain brought about some sort of happiness.

Speaking of bowling with him, there were a lot of times that brought us joy and made me proud as well. I would like to draw attention to Bishan's persistent desire to ensure that I bowled from the other end in an attempt to get wickets.

He would never want me to concentrate on monitoring the flow of the run while he continued to attack from one end. That was totally inappropriate. We will need to hit the ball from both ends when bowling in tandem. He took great care over it.

That's actually the most effective approach to play in a Test match. That gave us outcomes.

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

as well. A few genuinely remarkable ones.