Bishan Singh Bedi irks Kapil Dev fans indirectly by ranking him lower than Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi has been known to be a bold and fearless cricketer on the field while representing team India in the international circuit. He is equally known for his outspoken nature and has always expressed his opinions without holding back. However, the former Indian captain may have unknowingly given a better preference of admiration to Sunil Gavaskar over Kapil Dev during an interview.

Bishan Singh Bedi chooses Sunil Gavaskar as his favourite cricketer

In 2017, Bishan Singh Bedi had given an informal interview on the fan favourite show, “Breakfast with Champions”, hosted by television presenter Gaurav Kapur. During the interview, the former Indian captain talked about various topics, including his cricket career and the Indian Premier League, which displaying his direct and outspoken nature. Further, into the interview, Gaurav Kapur asked him to name two or three players that came to his mind who had the joy and passion for cricket.

Bishan Singh Bedi answered by saying that he used to watch Sunil Gavaskar very avidly while pointing out that the former cricketer had the ability to psych himself before going to bat. According to Bedi, Gavaskar was a big player and he had never seen such a big player. He later went on name Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli as his choice of players who had the raging passion for cricket.

The Kapil Dev match fixing allegations that shocked the fans

Fans might argue that Bedi could have named Kapil Dev along with Sunil Gavaskar as India lifted its first cricket World Cup under the captaincy of Kapil Dev in 1983. Bishan Singh Bedi could have refrained from taking his name due to the Kapil Dev match fixing allegations that came forward in the year 2000. Manoj Prabhakar, who was at the forefront of the Kapil Dev match fixing allegations had also carried out a sting operation with tehelka.com. During the sting operation, Bishan Singh Bedi had vaguely hinted at the match-fixing scenario.

Sunil Gavaskar centuries that tell his dominance

Apart from the Sunil Gavaskar commentary, the former cricketer had an incredible Test cricket career which made him one of the prominent players in Indian cricket. He played a total of 125 Test matches in which he scored a massive 10,122 runs and registered 34 centuries. In 108 ODI matches, Gavaskar has scored 3092 runs and registered a single century.

Kapil Dev stats in Test cricket

On the other hand, the Kapil Dev stats are nothing short of spectacular as the former India captain contributed from both ends of the pitch. In 131 Test matches, Kapil Dev scored an impressive 5248 runs with an average of 31.1. He also had 434 Test wickets to his name with an economy of 2.78. He had 23 5-wicket hauls and under his captaincy, Indian lifted its first cricket World Cup in 1983.

Image Source: PTI