Bishan Singh Bedi names India's best captain ever and it is NOT MS Dhoni or Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi was 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. Bishan Singh Bedi had once named India’s best cricket captain according to him and surprisingly he didn’t name great Indian captains like Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly or MS Dhoni.

Bishan Sing Bedi names his favourite Indian captain

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. While addressing his quality of speaking his mind freely, Bishan Singh Bedi said that he learned to speak freely from his father while also being inspired by his former captain Tiger Pataudi.

Tiger Pataudi's influence on Bishan Singh Bedi

Bishan Singh Bedi continued further by saying that he had never seen any other Indian captain like Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. While addressing Pataudi as a Giant, Bedi further added that he was very fortunate to play under the captaincy of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi since he started his cricket career under him. Bedi also recalled his time playing under Pataudi and said that he was the first one to tell everyone in the team meeting that the players were representing team India and not their individual states.

Fans might argue that Bedi could have named Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni as India lifted its World Cup Trophies under the captaincy of Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni in 1983 and 2011 respectively. However, Tiger Pataudi had a lasting influence on Bedi since he played under Pataudi’s captaincy and his free-minded expression was inspired by the late legendary cricketer. Bishan Singh Bedi recalled him as a man who was 100 years ahead of his time and his presence was so powerful on the field that even a doff from Pataudi’s cap was enough to know about a job well done.

Mansoor Ali Khan Test career

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, famously known as Tiger Pataudi made his Test debut against England in 1961. He became the captain of the Indian cricket team in 1962 when he was just 21 years old. He handled the reins of Indian captaincy from 1962 till 1975. He played a total of 46 Test matches while scoring 2793 runs with an average of 34.9. He has the highest score of 203 not out in Test cricket.

Image Source: PTI