Nawab, Tiger, first superstar of Indian cricket — former India captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who passed away on 22 September 2011, held several titles and it’s an apt reflection of the life and cricketing career that he led.
Born in Bhopal in 1941, Pataudi grew up in a palace in the former princely province of Pataudi that was ruled by his father Iftikhar Ali Khan. And just like his father, the junior Pataudi took to cricket as his first love. Iftikhar, who featured in 127 First-Class matches, played six Test matches in his career, three for England and three for India. He was part of the Bodyline series in 1932-22 and also captained India.
Love for cricket and talent for the game was Pataudi’s heritage and he gave a glimpse of his skills at a very early age. Pataudi was the school cricket team captain at Winchester College of Hampshire from 1954 until 1959 and scored 1,068 runs in his last season, breaking the 40-year record of former England captain Douglas Jardine. He made his County Championship debut for Sussex when he was 16. At Oxford University, he scored a century in his first varsity match in 1961 just as his father did.
The same year, the former India captain met an unfortunate accident in Hove. A shard of the windscreen penetrated his right eye and impaired his vision forever. It was feared Pataudi would not be able to play cricket again, but ‘Tiger’ was not going to go down without a fight. He was soon back in the nets but found that he saw two balls. To counter the double vision, he would put his cap down over the right eye.
Five months after the accident, he made his India Test debut against England in Delhi and scored a century in his third match against the same opposition in Chennai.
In an interview, a few years back, his son and Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan revealed England cricketing great Geoffrey Boycott still refuses to believe that Pataudi was visually impaired.
“Boycott, who I really looked up to, made me really angry one day. He said, ‘I heard about your father, it’s not possible to play Test cricket with one eye.’ I asked him if he thinks my father is lying, to which he replied, ‘Yes! I think he’s making it up,” Saif said.
“I told my father that, and he got really annoyed. He said, ‘Well, I was bloody good with two eyes. I’m just good with one. That was the only arrogant remark I ever heard him make,” Saif added.
When 21, Pataudi was made India captain and went on to play 46 Tests in his career that lasted till 1975. He captained India in 40 of the 46 Tests he played in and scored 2,793 runs in his career. He scored six centuries and 16 fifties at the international level. Under his leadership, India clinched their first overseas Test win in 1967 against New Zealand. The highlight of Partaudi’s successful Test captaincy was the usage of three spinners in the same side. Pataudi wanted India to play to their strengths and not rely on conditions.
“Tiger Pataudi was the most charismatic cricketer of his generation. To bat with almost zero vision in one eye and still to score nearly 3000 runs and half a dozen centuries in Test cricket tells you what a genius he was. He will be terribly missed and it’s a huge loss to the game of cricket,” legendary Sunil Gavaskar had said in his tribute after Pataudi’s demise in 2011.
Despite all the success, Pataudi never let his achievements change him as a person. A fierce competitor on the pitch, Pataudi was known for his princely demeanor off the pitch.
“He commanded respect because he was a prince and he held himself like royalty,” his former teammate Farokh Engineer once said.
Considered the first superstar of Indian cricket, Pataudi got married to famous Bollywood actor Sharmila Tagore in 1968.
Pataudi died in 2011 due to a lung ailment. After his demise, the BCCI established MAK Pataudi Memorial Lecture in 2013, an annual event to honour the former India captain. The first lecture was delivered by Sunil Gavaskar while legendary cricketers like Rahul Dravid and Kevin Petersen have spoken at the event.
Pataudi was bestowed with the Arjuna Award in 1964 and Padma Shri in 1967.
Despite visual impairment, Pataudi evolved himself to become a strong cricketer. His positive and daring captaincy taught India to win overseas. He was a graceful fighter throughout his life. People remember Pataudi in different ways, but he was truly a Nawab and a Tiger.
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