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. Asked about the lack of world-class spinners in India, except for Harbhajan Singh, Muralitharan said Bedi was not in the league of BS Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkatraghavan and Erapalli Prasanna. “Bedi, I don’t think he does not even come to a contest on that. I saw some (of his) bowling of his playing days. In 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.
Asked about Bedi’s comments to ban the ‘doosra’ from international cricket, Muralitharan said, “ He (Bedi) did not have any variation. He just bowled left arm spin and pitch did the variation for him. That is what he bowled.”
Reacting to Muralitharan’s comments, Bedi said, ““I don’t want to react. Don’t want to comment. I don’t want to say anything to be honest. You know my views. I don’t want to stoop to his levels. I don’t call Murali a chucker. He is a chucker.”
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks