Bishan Singh Bedi urges athletes to run associations

Hyderabad: One of cricket’s greatest spinners Bishan Singh Bedi while stating that the value of Anil Kumble was undermined as a coach, also opined that there should be a new system in place whereby only former players take up administrative posts and run associations.

He was delivering a talk on 'The Spirit of the Game-Life Lessons from Sports, which was part of an educational outreach program organised by Ratnasagar Pvt Ltd, in the city on Thursday Speaking with his typically flamboyant nonchalance, the outspoken former spinner contended that Kumble was not given his due share of credit.

He felt that the coach-skipper (Virat Kohli) row was handed very badly, the former India captain said that Kumble was an intelligent analyst of the sport.‘Kumble may not be a qualified coach but he knows the game inside out. How can one forget or overlook his inspirational contributions that saw India regain the top slot,” wondered an exasperated Bedi, who was flanked alongside Hyderabad-based spinners SL Venkatapathi Raju, Pragyan Ojha and Kanwaljeet Singh.

Dwelling about the Lodha panel recommendations, Bedi said that the Supreme Court ruling on corruption in the sport and about Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), he said this would a long way in ridding the sport of all the ill-gotten administrative notoriety.

Underscoring the importance of blending education and sports, he said that formal education was essential for any athlete as he could see the world from a different spectrum. He urged educational institutions to ensure that some part of the day is accorded for sports as it would be an effective stress-buster that could help the students to be mentally alert all through.

He also called for peak fitness levels among players while rating Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the fittest player of his era.
Bedi praised the rise of shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth.

By V Sateesh Reddy