Miss you, Tiger
One of India's most charismatic cricketers, and one of the youngest Test captains, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi died on September 22
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
One of India's most charismatic cricketers, and one of the youngest Test captains, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi died on September 22. Author Jeffrey Archer first met Pataudi almost 50 years ago through some common friends at Oxford, and the first thing that struck him about Pataudi was "the God-given gift he possessed to treat all men as equals". Archer recounts his association with the 'Maharaja' as he called Pataudi in the Indian Express.
I too was a great fan of the cricketer, enough to base ‘The Century’, a short story from A Quiver Full of Arrows, on him. Not many people know that it was about the Nawab, considering the protagonist is a nameless character and appeared in a book with several other stories of fiction. But it was indeed a tribute to the cricketer I adored.
Paying tribute to Pataudi, Pradeep Magazine in the Hindustan Times writes that Pataudi was the architect of India's rise as a modern cricket outfit.
It won't be wrong to say that had there been no Pataudi, Indian cricket would have taken much more time to graduate into a combative, cohesive unit, which played to win and not lose.
Ramchandra Guha in the Telegraph tries to answer the question: what kind of sportsman was Pataudi?
That question can best be answered by setting him alongside his contemporaries. Think then of a player who was as charismatic as Salim Durani, as brave as Mohinder Amarnath, as independent-minded as Bishan Singh Bedi, and as affable in personal demeanour as G.R. Viswanath. That man was Tiger Pataudi.
Writing in Mid-Day, Ian Chappell says Pataudi was "a wonderful mixture of larrikin and worldliness, with a dry wit thrown in".
That same evening I asked him what he did for a job when he wasn't playing cricket; "Ian, I'm a Prince." Not being familiar with the concept I continued to prod him about what he did between the hours of nine and five. Exasperated, he replied: "Ian, I'm a bloody Prince."
Paying tribute to Pataudi, Ayaz Memon in the Mumbai Mirror writes that Pataudi was of regal carriage on and off the field, played with inimitable style and flamboyance, and captained the team as a natural born leader.
Former India cricketer Abbas Ali Baig describes Pataudi as the "cricketing legend with whom he shared some of the best moments of his life, be it socialising with him or playing as his teammate at Oxford University." He relives some of the memories in the Hindustan Times.
What, for me, stands out in the man is not that he led India, something which might have had to do with the socio-academic background he came from, though it obviously was not handed over to him on a platter.
It is what he made of the job given to him. He showed tremendous understanding of the job he was doing and did not follow the hackneyed path which would not have taken Indian cricket anywhere in the cricketing world.
An editorial in the Indian Express says that it cannot be overstated how much Indian cricket benefited from Pataudi's attitude.
Pataudi was the first Indian team captain Ajit Wadekar played under, and also the last. Wadekar says that Pataudi was "one of the greatest batsmen that Indian cricket has seen." More from the Times of India.
An editorial in the Hindu states that were times when Pataudi's batting reached a level of subliminal beauty rarely matched by anyone in that era.
Revealing his lighter side, Pataudi, in an interview to the Times of India in 2002 talks about wooing Sharmila Tagore, the practical jokes he played on his team-mates and more.
Q: You actually got a refrigerator for her from England?
MAK: Yes I thought that's something she would be interested in.
Old Hindi songs always brought a smile to Pataudi’s face and music developed as an indulgent interest alongside his professional cricket. Devendra Pandey has more in the Indian Express.
Former Indian Test opener Kenia Jayantilal also recalls Pataudi’s unique habit for carrying musical instruments during tours. “Beyond cricket, he was very fond of Indian instruments — both playing them and listening to them. He played the tabla and sitar very well, and sometimes even traveled with them,” he says
Mid-Day has carried a chapter from Pataudi's autobiography in which he recalls the day when he lost his right eye in a car mishap.
It took me a long time to realize I had virtually lost the use of one eye, but even then, never for an instant did I consider I might not be able to play cricket again. Possibly, I refused to let myself believe it could be the finish
Vivek Sengupta was a junior at the Ananda Bazar Publishing house when Pataudi was an editor there. He also worked directly with Pataudi when both of them worked for Kapil Dev’s Dev Features in Delhi. On mxmindia.com he pays tribute to Pataudi, the 'editor'.
How was Pataudi as an editor? By all accounts he was an exceptional leader, who preferred to inspire rather than control or micro manage. He was a man who led with a light hand and who, by his sheer gentility and understatement, made himself unforgettable. A man of very few words, he had a terrific sense of humour and an ability to connect with people on the strength of his easygoing manner.
Akhila Ranganna is assistant editor (Audio) at ESPNcricinfo