Sachin Tendulkar has forever shared a great bond with Bishan Singh Bedi. Bishanji was the coach when he toured New Zealand as a 16-year-old and then scored his first Test hundred during the tour of England in 1990. It was only natural that I would call Sachin and ask for his reaction at the passing away of Bishanji.
Soon after I had messaged him, telling him why I wanted to speak, came the call. And for the next 15 minutes or so, Sachin travelled down memory lane and left me with words that just needed to be reproduced.
Here is what he said.
BORIA: What does Bishanji mean to you?
SACHIN: The first time I met Paaji was on our tour of New Zealand, when he was our coach. It was extremely enjoyable to be around him, because he had lots of stories to tell. Yes, he was strict and wanted us to work hard during our practice sessions. It was only fair that he did that. And then we, all the youngsters, would look forward to being around him in the evenings because he would tell us stories from his career.
There were occasions when he would go to his friends for dinner and ask us what we were doing in the evening. We had nothing much to do. So we would go with him on most occasions. It was very enjoyable because he regaled us with life experiences. As I said, he was strict when he needed to be and he was full of laughter during the lighter moments. Also, he was good at breaking the ice and making players feel comfortable. That’s what he was very good at.
Pause.
BORIA: Yeah, please go on.
SACHIN: Are you there?
BORIA: Yes, absolutely.
SACHIN: I think the tour of England was the turning point for me. New Zealand of course was good, we spent a lot of time together, but the tour of England was a longer one. There were lots of side matches as well, which I got to play. In most of these matches, there were senior players who needed some time off. So I made the most of the opportunities that came to me. Those opportunities helped me learn a lot and that’s when Bishan Paaji would keep a close eye on me.
I can never forget his reaction when I scored my first hundred at Old Trafford. The way he received me in the dressing room, the way he hugged me, it was a different relationship. He treated me more like a son and it was not so much of a player-coach relationship. So yeah, when I think of all those moments, it feels unreal. That you know the person who you have watched for years, watched him play for India for such a long time. And then the same person was our coach and we got to spend time with him.
Strength of that left arm: I thought it was the best thing to happen to a 17-year-old because there was so much to learn from him. Something that I also figured out on the tour of New Zealand was he never used a cricket bat to give catches. It was his left arm… his shoulder had so much strength. He would throw the ball so hard underarm that he did not need a bat. That was something I had never experienced.
Even when it came to high catches, he could get the ball to go reasonably high and that is why I feel that at his peak as a left-arm spinner, he must have had a terrific armer.
EXCLUSIVE 🚨
“We played a lot of cricket together… he has been a wonderful person on or off the field” Sir Clive Lloyd on Bishan Singh Bedi.#BishanSinghBedi @BoriaMajumdar pic.twitter.com/hcXqngWDZh
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) October 23, 2023
Rhythmic, smooth and effortless: That he was a champion bowler is known, everyone saw that and occasionally he also bowled to us in the nets. If I am asked to describe his bowling action, I would say it was poetry in motion. It was very, very rhythmic, smooth and effortless. Of course, the challenge was not to get out to Bishan Paaji. He would toss the ball up and invite the batters to leave the crease and try and play those big drives and play on the batter’s mind. So it was a challenge not to get out to him. We had a lot of fun. Honestly, we had the most unbelievable time together.
BORIA: Fascinating.
SACHIN: Let me also say this. Anyone who saw us together knew we shared a special bond. Even a stranger would have told you we share a special bond. He was strict, but in a good way I mean, because he wanted me to be the best.