One cannot sum up a life that was larger than life. Or reduce a towering sporting presence to figures and milestones, which are no doubt important and of which there will be plenty recounted now.
Suffice to say Bishan Singh Bedi had a personality that transcended the modern confines of the great game. There was astute artistry and inscrutable genius in his slow left-arm orthodox spin. It beggars belief that a cricketer can have such absolute mastery over his craft. He still owns that genre of bowling, and probably always will.
It wasn't just the perfection in his bowling, though, which defined him, although it said everything about him. His death at 77 also heralds the end of the original, outspoken statesman-cricketer. His mind was blessed with intelligent wit, immense knowledge and clarity of purpose. They don't make them like Bedi any more, as even people he openly rebuked will tell you. This is the saddest of days for the great game, for even though Bedi could be severe in his views and politically incorrect, he was always sincere. He felt it was his duty to speak up about issues that veered from the logical.
