Tiger Pataudi, India's finest captain, passes away at 70

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, a Nawab who preferred the green fields of a cricket stadium to the games of politics and whose stories of courage became modern Indian cricket classics, died on Thursday evening at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi. He was 70. A right-hand batsman, whose dashing strokeplay and outstanding fielding, especially in the covers, gave Indian cricket a new lease of life and a way out of the ‘safety-first’ approach that had dogged the team in its early years, Tiger — as he was also known — feared nothing and no one on the cricket field. He was arguably India’s finest captain – he was at the helm for a remarkable 40 of the 46 Tests he played for the country and won nine of them. He was a hero, the likes of whom Indian cricket had not seen before. For much of his life, he was compared to his father, Nawab of Pataudi Sr. Perhaps that was inevitable. The young man — he was only 21 when he became captain of India — had cricket in his blood and it showed. [caption id=“attachment_90109” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A car accident, when he was 20, robbed him of vision in his right eye. Screengrab from Ibnlive.in.com”] [/caption] A car accident, when he was 20, robbed him of vision in his right eye but that never stopped him from playing his favourite ‘pull shot’ or the lofted drive over the infield – a shot which was way ahead of it’s time in terms of execution and flair. The world will forever imagine what he would have managed to do with two good eyes. When he walked to the wicket, there was a certain charm and charisma that drove the crowds mad but it wasn’t his batting that cemented his place in history. His captaincy wasn’t burdened by the past; his views were his own alone and in that time and age it mattered a lot. He was the first captain to lead India to a Test series victory on foreign soil – in New Zealand in 1967. And he achieved that by playing to India’s strength, which in his opinion was spin bowling. India played with three spinners and in doing so laid the foundation for decades of spin mastery. And for a team that would generally amble after the ball in the field, he showed them the value of throwing themselves around and saving runs. And through all this, he led by example. His last series as captain was the one against West Indies in 1974-75 and even though India lost the Test series 3-2, his captaincy in the five Tests was splendid. He attacked with gusto and with no thought of a safety net. His powers as a batsman had waned but as a captain, he was at his finest. His romance with Sharmila Tagore made him a household name and they were eventually married on December 27, 1969. He is survived by three children – Saif Ali Khan, an actor in Hindi movies, Soha Ali Khan, also an actor, and Saba Ali Khan, a jewellery designer. [fpgallery id=235] He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1964 and the Padma Shri in 1967. In his later years, he was involved in a controversial black buck hunting case in 2005. Pataudi allegedly had shot an endangered black buck near Jhajjar during a hunting expedition with friends. He also briefly dabbled with journalism and was the first editor of Sportsworld, the now defunct cricket magazine and was also a television commentator in the 80s. He also had a stint as ICC Match Referee. In recent times, he had generally withdrawn from active cricket but remained one of the most-respected figure in the game. He was part of the Indian Premier League governing council as well and was one of the first people to say that the ‘Governing Council failed completely.’ A man with forthright views, his calm and composure was exemplary – royalty indeed. To many people, his nickname of ‘Tiger’ was earned because of the way he prowled the field in the covers. But it was never a nickname he grew to like. “I do have a name, Mansur. Nobody seems to know it, so I have got used to Tiger,” he once said. Indeed, we all got used to Tiger and the world just won’t be the same without him. Watch Video remembering Pataudi

Tiger Pataudi, India's finest captain, passes away at 70

Pataudi was at the helm for a remarkable 40 of the 46 Tests he played for the country. He was a hero — the likes of whom Indian cricket had not seen before.

Top Stories

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House