Greg Chappell paid glowing tributes to Bishan Singh Bedi, a former India captain and a spin legend, who passed away on Monday. Calling Bedi a brother and a titan, the former Australia captain and a batting legend said Bedi was one of the greatest cricketers the world has ever seen.
"I feel like I have lost a brother. Whenever we competed on the field it was like two brothers competing. Neither wanted to lose, but if you did, you laughed about it afterwards. Whenever we caught up in later life it was as two brothers meeting after a long time. We took up seamlessly where we left off at the last meeting," Chappell told Cricbuzz.
Bedi and Chappell were contemporaries, with their careers overlapping in the 1970s. Bedi, who passed away at the age of 77, played between 1966 and 1979, while Chappell's cricketing career spanned from 1970 to 1984.
Chappell's illustrious brother, Ian, who was also a former Australia captain, always held Bedi in high regard. Greg, too, shared similar sentiments about Bedi, who participated in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs. "Bish was not only one of the greatest cricketers the world has seen, but he was also a warm, wonderful and classy human being. A competitive and yet, thoroughly decent and fair man," Chappell said.
Bedi was renowned for his deep sense of humor, and Chappell didn't overlook that in his recollections of their encounters. "A bloke with a delightful sense of humour and a naughty sense of mischief. He was a principled, passionate and forthright man who effortlessly spoke truth to power with no regard to consequences. Courageous and a path-paver for generations of Indian cricketers," Chappell said showering encomiums on his former adversary.
"It is a sad day for Cricket and personally, I am immensely saddened. A titan amongst us has departed to Elysian fields where he will no doubt delight the gods and angels," Chappell said, signing off his tributes.
Steve Waugh joined his compatriot in paying tributes to Bedi. "A nicer man you wouldn't meet anywhere. He would always greet you with a warm welcome and then ask if he could help in any way. He'd then proceed to bowl in the nets against the Australian team and take plenty of wickets with his mesmerizingly graceful and poetic orthodox spin. A true gentleman of the game," Waugh, a former Australia skipper said.
