Cricketers carry interesting things with them while jetting off to foreign tours. They just don’t let out to the public. However, Bishan Singh Bedi, ‘Sardar of Spin’ has admitted that he once carried ‘bottles of rum’ on the tour of Pakistan.
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Bishan Singh Bedi is one of the integral parts of Indian cricket history when his spin did the talking more than his words. He played a phenomenal role in the 1960s and 70s.
Indian journalist Rajdeep Sardesai who has revealed some of the interesting stories of Indian cricket players in the recent past days spoke about Bishan Singh Bedi who sneaked a rum case with bottles of rum; was unpunished at the Islamabad airport
“Bishan Singh Bedi was carrying a rum case — bottles of rum — back in a series in Pakistan. I said paaji, what if they confiscate it?” said Rajdeep.
“He replied, ‘In Pakistan, I’m Bishan Singh Bedi!’
“And he was so right! The fans came to the airport…the customs officers saluted him… Tell me in which two countries will this happen?” added Rajdeep.
Bishan Singh Bedi featured the national team in 67 Tests while skippering in 22 of them and aggregated 266 wickets to his illustrious cricketing career.
At Times Lit Fest 2017 in New Delhi, Bishan Singh Bedi felt proud to have played cricket for India which gave him a first class opportunity to learn the art of humanity.
He also added that politics would have been his last option had he not played cricket. “I feel proud to play cricket. The game also gave me a chance to interact with humanity.
Having a third class engineering degree from the Punjab University, I would have ended up as a politician if I hadn’t played cricket!,” said Bedi.
“But politics is something I’d have never done. I’m not a terribly politically oriented person.. I’m pretty wary of politicians to be honest.. but I’m very fond of Shashi Tharoor,” he added.
