'Bishan paaji showed a mirror. That was his greatest strength'

My first walk into the Indian dressing room as a 19-year-old was when Bishan paaji was the cricket manager (back then how head coach was described). He welcomed all the youngsters with open arms, always had a sort of an arm around your shoulder and always had a kind word.

Immediately I recognized he had a great sense of humor. He would literally tell the spinners, especially the left-arm spinners like Venkatpathy Raju: "look, the whole day you are turning the ball like this, the evening has to go like that (turning the hand other way as if drinking from a glass). You have to have a drink." And that's something that he enjoyed, and he enjoyed with all the cricketers while telling stories. Of course, I could never join him for a drink, but I have really fond memories.

In 1990, on my first tour of England, during the Old Trafford Test, I dropped Jack Russell in the second innings when England were looking to score runs quickly, and then look to declare so that they could put pressure on us as they had a pretty massive lead. I think it was last over of the day. I was never an athletic fielder, but this was one of those instances where I misjudged the catch, and I perhaps moved in early, and the ball went over my head for a four. As we came in the dressing room, Kapil paaji had a go at me. As a bowler you feel frustrated.

I was a 19, walking into an Indian dressing room with such stalwarts. And I had tears in my eyes. When we were heading back to the hotel, Bishan paaji came and sat next to me on the team bus. He told me one thing: "son, never ever show your tears in public." It remained with me forever. And he also had a go at Kapil paaji, who was told: "don't ever dare do this to a youngster."

As a youngster growing up I heard everyone saying that Bishan paaji was a master at his craft, his bowling style was poetry in motion, really smooth. I didn't have too much of video footage to watch him bowl in a match, but whenever he bowled in the nets, he always had us in a spin. He would say: "listen, I wish I had batters like you during my days." And he would make fun of us, literally teasing us, provoking by saying: "come on, hit me now." He was a master.

In England, I played for Northants, the same county where Bishan paaji played, and everybody had a great word for him and his style of bowling. People were mesmerised. People would come to watch him bowl.

As a captain we all remember the famous West Indies incident where he just literally took the team off the field saying that this is pretty dangerous for the team. That's him. You could sort of relate to that after knowing who he was as a person: very, very Bishan paaji style, who would just storm off if he felt that what he saw was not cricket.

There's a lot to learn from Bishan paaji. While I knew he always had my back and followed my growth as a bowler, as a player, if I did something wrong, he would pick up the phone and say: "Hey, listen, this is something that I don't want to see on a cricket field." He showed a mirror. That was his greatest strength. And people misconstrued that.

In the early 2000s, I remember being on the BCCI spin committee and Bishan paaji was part of that. He had very strong views about spinners, at least the young spinners, not taking part in a T20 competition. He said: "I'm really disturbed that my young spin partner here thinks that spinners should play T20 cricket."

I told him, "paaji, growing up as a 16-year-old, if the captains are not used to playing spinners it's never going to be the same when they become senior cricketers and captains. Then they would barely go to a spinner when things are tough. So that's one of the reasons why I feel that we need to train spinners to adapt to every format." He didn't agree. "Listen," he said. "I don't see spinners bowling in T20. This is not cricket."

During that famous Sydney episode (Monkeygate), he was the one person who called me up. He said: "Son, take a decision based on how history is going to see it. Don't take a decision based on emotions." I thought that was the greatest advice that you got because invariably when you are captain of a team and when you are in that kind of a situation, you get advice from all quarters. But here he was, sending just that succinct message, which gave everything I needed in that moment. That's Bishan paaji for you.

Cricket was in his blood. He felt for the game. He believed that you need to play the game in the right way. And he was always ethical about it. And he was really vocal about it, too, whenever he had that opportunity to express his views.

But he was a true gentle giant. A true legend, and someone who I looked up to. He was more like a father figure for all of us. He fondly called me Kumbles (rhyming with tumbles). Whenever you met him it was the typical Punjabi hug that you would get from him. When I became the president of the KSCA (Karnataka State Cricket Association), we had our Platinum Jubilee celebration. It just took me a phone call requesting him to come over for the function - as a former India captain, as someone who I admired, and I wanted to bring all the four great 70s spinners together on the stage.

He just said: "Anything for you. I'm coming." And he was there. It took me back to another similar incident in 1990 - my first meeting with Bishan paaji. I was studying engineering in Bengaluru, and I requested him as a 19-year-old, enthusiastic, college-going guy - "Sir, can you come with the team to the college?" He immediately said yes. I mean he could have easily said: "listen, this is the Indian cricket team, just let's stay focused on training."

One evening he just brought the entire team to the college. It was a fantastic gesture by him, and that showed the warmth and generosity he expressed towards cricketers.

Bishan paaji's legacy will always be rich and unique. He was true to the game. It was a religion for him. He was a true ambassador for the game. As a senior cricketer he also passed on his views and his opinions and handed his skill to the younger lot, which is his true legacy. He was everything that you can ask for in cricket. He will always be missed. It is a sad day for Indian cricket.