AMRITSAR, Punjab, India: Former Test Captain Bishen ‘Singh Bedi charged that lack of “direction and “overconfident fence” Ted to India’s defeat in the Reliance Cup.
Man-to-man, India had the best team, but ht eboys faltered for want of adequate practice and training, India were the defending champions. They did not work hard to retian the World (Cup, he said.
‘A comparatively raw Australian team won the championship, thanks to mature guidance from old-timers like Bobby Simson.
Bedi was very critical of the way, ‘which sports is handled in the country. ‘The major share for this blame must rest on the national sports federations, associations and organizations, which lacked planning. If today cricket was at the peak of its popularity it was not because of the Government help but because of the exposure given to the game by the Board of Control of Cricket in India.
Cricket fetched the country foreign exchange and its publicity was well ‘orchestrated as compared to other sports discipline like hockey or football
He said he was keen on developing cricket in Punjab and had praise for cricket nurseries at Chandigarh, Patiala, Jullundur and Amritsar.
Recalling his days in Amritsar, Bedi said he was “sad” that “cricket has been lost here”. One misses the usual spirit. Even playing facilities here are not enough, he lamented, In the 1960’s ‘Amritsar produced players like the Amarnath brothers, Surinder and Mohinder, Madan Lal and Vijay Me ha, besides Bedi himself. “There was more cricket in the city in the 1960s than now”, he added.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 4, 1987
