Having made his debut against the West Indies in 1966, Bedi went on to take 266 wickets in 67 Test matches and served as the skipper on 22 occasions.

Bedi, leg spinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and off spinners Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, were a feared quartet in Indian cricket during the 1970s.

Born in Amritsar, Punjab, in 1946, Indian and international cricket community adored and mourned the death of Bedi.

"The world seems a little emptier without you, Paaji. Rest in the eternal peace you so deserve," said Sachin Tendulkar, the all-time highest run-scorer in both ODI and Test cricket.

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said Bedi "was an affable person and went the extra mile to help young cricketers".

Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis said the Sardar of Spin was a "great human and master of his art".

Bedi played for Northamptonshire between 1972 to 1977, helping them to their first major domestic trophy - the Gillette Cup in 1976.

He finished his career with 1,560 first-class wickets, more than any other Indian bowler, with domestic stints at Northern Punjab and Delhi as well.

The classical spinner renowned for his action lifted the Ranji Trophy twice with Delhi in the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons.

For the first win, Bedi's team defeated Gundappa Viswanath's Karnataka with Sunil Gavaskar's Bombay losing the following year.

"Saddened to hear of the passing of the legendary Bishan Singh Bedi. Many of my predecessors in the Caribbean spoke of his guile and skill as a bowler and competitor in reverential tones," West Indies great Ian Bishop said.

Bedi was also known for his outspoken nature and has had his fair share of controversies.

In 1976, he declared at 97 for 5 against Clive Lloyd's West Indies in protest against intimidatory bowling while two years later, a game against Pakistan was forfeited.

Bedi accused John Lever of England of using vaseline to alter conditions and swing the ball in 1977.

As a coach, Bedi threatened to dump the Indian team in the sea after a poor tout against Australia.

Not afraid to upset administrators, the Padma Shri winner criticised the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association's (DDCA) administration, and in 2020, he requested them to remove his name from the stands at the Feroz Shah Kotla after the decision to rename the stadium after politician Arun Jaitley came out.

Bedi is survived by his wife Anju, son Angad and daughter Neha.

"Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Bishan Singh Bedi. He was a great cricketer and an even greater human being. He was a moral beacon for all those who knew him," renowned historian Ramachandra Guha said.