(Ramachandra Guha is an Indian historian and writer. The column first appeared in The Telegraph on September 25, 2021)
- Bishan Singh Bedi’s life in cricket has been celebrated in a volume published on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday. Titled The Sardar of Spin, it brings together tributes to Bedi by cricketers of his generation who played with or against him, by writers who followed his career (full disclosure: I am one of the contributors), and by cricketers of younger generations who were mentored or inspired by him. The book is the brainchild of the former Delhi opener, Venkat Sundaram, who played under Bishan Bedi in the Ranji Trophy for many years and remembers with particular fondness the first time Delhi won the championship, in 1978-79, when he was one of the players and Bedi the team’s inspirational captain. It was Venkat Sundaram who conceived of the book, who brought together an array of contributors from around the world, who sourced the photographs, and who found a publisher. It is a mark of the man’s self-effacement and innate decency that his name does not appear on the cover…
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