Retired spin great Muttiah Muralitharan on Wednesday lashed out at his long-time detractor Bishen Singh Bedi, calling the former Indian captain a controversy monger and an ordinary bowler who would have been hammered by any batsman if he was playing now.
Bedi has been an untiring critic of Muralitharan by repeatedly calling the Sri Lankan a “chucker” and asking the ICC to ban the Sri Lankan’s “doosra” as it was illegal.
Muralitharan, who retired last week, made an uncharacteristic attack on Bedi, saying that he was just an ordinary bowler.
Asked about the lack of world-class spinners in India, except for Harbhajan Singh, Muralitharan said Bedi was not in the league of B.S. Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Erapalli Prasanna.
“Bedi, I don’t think he even comes to a contest on that. I saw some (of his) bowling during his playing days. In the modern era, if he plays he will get hammered every ball, that is what will happen. So no comparison,” the world’s most successful spinner told PTI in an interview.
“Prasanna is a good bowler. I have seen his bowling. Venkataraghavan is good. But Bedi does not come under it,” he said.
Though without mentioning the constant criticism he got from Bedi, the affable Sri Lankan advised the former Indian captain to refrain from whipping up controversies.
“He (Bedi) is also a controversial person. He has had a lot of controversies everywhere in the world. And he should think about himself first rather than talking about other people,” Muralitharan said.
Asked about Bedi’s comments to ban the ‘doosra’ from international cricket, Muralitharan lampooned the Indian by saying that he has no variations in his bowling and was therefore critical of others.
“He (Bedi) did not have any variation. He just bowled left arm spin and the pitch did the variation for him. That is what he bowled,” he said.
Muralitharan said Anil Kumble was the best spinner India has produced and records speak for themselves.
“You forget the best spinner is Anil Kumble. Not Bedi or Venkataraghavan or any other. I think the best ever spinner produced (in India) is Kumble. No doubt about it and nobody can doubt it. Statistics-wise and on the basis of other things, he is far ahead than other guys”, he said.
