The Nawab of Pataudi, who died on September 22 aged 70, captained India in 40 Test matches and scored six Test centuries – all despite having only one functioning eye.
He had seemed destined to become a batsman of supreme distinction. But on July 1 1961, as a passenger in a car accident, his right eye was pierced by a shard of glass from the windscreen. Inevitably this made it difficult for Pataudi to judge the length of the bowling which he faced. His plight was the worse because he had always relied rather more on instinct than technique.
The Nawab of Pataudi
Immediately, though, he undertook the challenge of rebuilding his career. After four months of concentrated experiment in the nets, he accepted an invitation to captain the Indian Board President’s XI against Ted Dexter’s MCC team in Hyderabad.
When Pataudi went in to bat, with a contact lens in his near-sightless right eye, he found he was seeing two balls, six or seven inches apart. By picking the inner one, he managed to reach 35. At this point he removed the contact lens, and, keeping the bad eye closed, succeeded in taking his score to 70.
A month later, in December 1961, he made his Test debut for India against England in Delhi. In his first four Test innings he registered scores of 13, 64, 32 and 103 (the latter in only 140 minutes), contributing largely to India’s first victory in a series against England.
This was a truly heroic achievement. By the end of the season Pataudi reckoned that he had discovered the best means of overcoming his handicap, pulling the peak of his cap over his right eye to eliminate the blurred double image he otherwise saw.
He still had difficulty, though, in judging flight against slow bowlers. Inevitably, genius lost something to caution and orthodoxy.
Naturally, his record begs the question of what he might have achieved with two good eyes. Yet Pataudi never made excuses, or indulged in self pity. In his autobiography, Tiger’s Tale (1969), he admitted simply that he had had to abandon his early ambition of becoming one of the greatest batsmen. Instead, he wrote: “I have concentrated on trying to make myself a useful one, and a better fielder than my father was.”
The son of the 8th Nawab of Pataudi, he was born Mohamed Mansur Ali Khan on January 5 1941 at Bhopal, of which his maternal grandfather was Nawab. Pataudi, some 30 miles south-west of Delhi and about the size of Rutland, had been granted to a forebear who supported the British during the Indian Mutiny.
The boy grew up in a palace boasting 150 rooms, run by well over 100 servants — eight of whom were employed as personal attendants to the son and heir, known from infancy as “Tiger”. There was also a personal tutor, who ensured that he could speak English as well as Urdu.
His father ruled his tiny state as absolute monarch, albeit ultimately under British supervision. A talented cricketer in his own right, he had scored 238 not out for Oxford against Cambridge in 1931. Subsequently he played for England against Australia on the tour of 1932-33, making a century on his Test debut in Sydney. It was said, though, that he disapproved of Douglas Jardine’s bodyline tactics.
Though plagued by ill health, he became one of the very few cricketers to play for two countries when he captained the Indians in England in 1946. He sent his son to prep school at Hemel Hempstead, where his old coach, Frank Woolley, instructed the youngster.
Whereas Pataudi senior had been known for the elegance and delicacy of his stroke play, his son transcended classical style, relying at this early stage on eagle eyes that enabled him to get away with the slashing cut and the cross-batted pull, even against bowling which seemed to demand respect.
His father died in 1952, aged only 41, so that Tiger, aged 11, became the 9th Nawab of Pataudi. In 1954 he went to Winchester. It is said that Pataudi senior, filling in an early application form for the school, had answered a question about the boy’s “other aptitudes” with just two words: “My son”.
At Winchester “the Noob”, as he was known, soon established himself as a cricketing prodigy. During his four years in the school XI he scored 2,956 runs at an overall average of 56.85. In 1959, when he was captain, he conjured 1,068 runs in the season, beating the school record established by Douglas Jardine in 1919. For good measure he also, in partnership with Christopher Snell, carried off the Public Schools Rackets championship.
Universally popular, he possessed even at this stage a certain dignity of bearing. Reflecting later on a beating he had received for some trivial offence, he remarked that it was better to have a sore bottom than a swollen head.
In 1957, in the summer holidays, Pataudi made his first-class debut for Sussex. By 1959 he was good enough to score 52 against a Yorkshire attack which included Trueman, Close, Illingworth and Don Wilson. Soon afterwards he went up to Balliol, purportedly to read Arabic and French. In his first summer at Oxford he made a century (131) against Cambridge at Lord’s.
The next year, 1961, Pataudi, now captain of Oxford, reached his absolute peak. Against the full Yorkshire attack, which included four England bowlers, he scored 106 and 103 not out. When he turned Trueman, who was bowling at full pace, off his stumps for four down to long leg, the Yorkshire champion raised his hand in salute.
By the end of June, with three games still to play, Pataudi was only 92 runs short of his father’s record total of 1,307 runs in an Oxford season. Then came the accident in Hove.
His extraordinary determination and success in overcoming the injury to his right eye led to his being appointed vice-captain for India’s tour of the West Indies early in 1962. When the skipper, Nari Contractor, was laid out by a vicious delivery from Charlie Griffith in the game against Barbados, Pataudi took over and became, at 21 years and 77 days, the youngest captain in the history of Test cricket.
In fact this was something of a poisoned chalice. At that period the Indian side was bereft of adequate fast bowling, while internal rifts and divisions added to the captain’s difficulties. In 1964, however, Pataudi’s side managed to draw all the matches in a home series against England. In the fourth Test, in Delhi, he scored 203 not out in the second innings .
With typical honesty Pataudi played down this achievement, explaining that his runs had largely been made when the match was already dead. He was far prouder of his 128 not out in the first Test against Australia in Madras in October 1964. And in the next Test, at Bombay, his innings of 86 and 53 helped India to what was only their second victory against the Australians.
In 1965 Pataudi led his country to a 1-0 victory in a four-match rubber against New Zealand, saving his team in the second Test at Calcutta with an innings of 153, and then scoring 113 at Delhi. In 1966-67, however, the West Indian tourists proved too powerful.
The short tour of England in 1967 was marred by poor weather and a spate of injuries to the England team. India lost all three Tests; Pataudi, however, batted superbly in the first game at Headingley, scoring 64 and 148. He maintained good form with the bat in Australia in 1967, averaging 56.50: the Indians, however, were defeated in all four Tests.
Pataudi did not play Test cricket from 1970 to 1972. Meanwhile in 1971 the government stripped Indian princes of their titles, so that he became known officially, though not popularly, as Mansur Ali Khan.
When he returned to the Indian side in January 1973 the team was led by Ajit Wadekar. He was, however, reinstated as captain for the tightly contested home series, which the West Indians won 3-2 in the final Test.
After dislocating a finger in the first Test, and missing the second, Pataudi was unable to find any form with the bat in the remaining matches, and never played for India again. In 46 Test matches he had scored 2,793 runs at an average of 34.91. As captain he led India to nine victories and suffered 19 defeats, with 19 matches drawn.
In 1966 Pataudi had captained Sussex in the county championship. In Indian domestic cricket he had at first played for Delhi in the North Zone, before transferring in 1966 to Hyderabad in the South Zone .
Between 1957 and 1976 he played 310 first-class matches, scoring a total of 15,425 runs at an average of 33.67. A fine fielder, he took 208 catches.
Though stripped of his title, Pataudi retained a certain regal bearing, notwithstanding his affability and laconic humour. After retiring he undertook some work in journalism and television, and even dabbled briefly and unenthusiastically in politics. More recently he had been on the council of the Indian Premier League. On the whole, though, he preferred playing bridge and trying his hand as a cook; at his house in the centre of Delhi he was a most generous host. He also kept an apartment in London.
The crux of his life, however, was his family. In 1969 he married the film star Sharmila Tagore, the great-grandniece of the poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. A rare beauty, and charming with it, she had made her name in Satyajit Ray’s The World of Apu (1959). When she married Pataudi she converted from Hinduism to Islam.
Their son, Saif Ali Khan, born in 1970 , has become one of the heart-throbs of Bollywood. Of their two daughters, Saba is a jewellery designer, while Soha is a film actress, recently seen in Mumbai Cutting.
Tests between England and India are now played for the Pataudi trophy.
In 2004 the Noob, as he always remained to his school contemporaries, was invited back to Winchester for the Ad Portas ceremony, in which distinguished old boys are honoured. In general those received are expected to declaim in Latin. Pataudi, while greatly touched, preferred to end his speech in Urdu.
Naturally, his record begs the question of what he might have achieved with two good eyes. Yet Pataudi never made excuses, or indulged in self pity. In his autobiography, Tiger’s Tale (1969), he admitted simply that he had had to abandon his early ambition of becoming one of the greatest batsmen. Instead, he wrote: “I have concentrated on trying to make myself a useful one, and a better fielder than my father was.”
The son of the 8th Nawab of Pataudi, he was born Mohamed Mansur Ali Khan on January 5 1941 at Bhopal, of which his maternal grandfather was Nawab. Pataudi, some 30 miles south-west of Delhi and about the size of Rutland, had been granted to a forebear who supported the British during the Indian Mutiny.
The boy grew up in a palace boasting 150 rooms, run by well over 100 servants — eight of whom were employed as personal attendants to the son and heir, known from infancy as “Tiger”. There was also a personal tutor, who ensured that he could speak English as well as Urdu.
His father ruled his tiny state as absolute monarch, albeit ultimately under British supervision. A talented cricketer in his own right, he had scored 238 not out for Oxford against Cambridge in 1931. Subsequently he played for England against Australia on the tour of 1932-33, making a century on his Test debut in Sydney. It was said, though, that he disapproved of Douglas Jardine’s bodyline tactics.
Though plagued by ill health, he became one of the very few cricketers to play for two countries when he captained the Indians in England in 1946. He sent his son to prep school at Hemel Hempstead, where his old coach, Frank Woolley, instructed the youngster.
Whereas Pataudi senior had been known for the elegance and delicacy of his stroke play, his son transcended classical style, relying at this early stage on eagle eyes that enabled him to get away with the slashing cut and the cross-batted pull, even against bowling which seemed to demand respect.
His father died in 1952, aged only 41, so that Tiger, aged 11, became the 9th Nawab of Pataudi. In 1954 he went to Winchester. It is said that Pataudi senior, filling in an early application form for the school, had answered a question about the boy’s “other aptitudes” with just two words: “My son”.
At Winchester “the Noob”, as he was known, soon established himself as a cricketing prodigy. During his four years in the school XI he scored 2,956 runs at an overall average of 56.85. In 1959, when he was captain, he conjured 1,068 runs in the season, beating the school record established by Douglas Jardine in 1919. For good measure he also, in partnership with Christopher Snell, carried off the Public Schools Rackets championship.
Universally popular, he possessed even at this stage a certain dignity of bearing. Reflecting later on a beating he had received for some trivial offence, he remarked that it was better to have a sore bottom than a swollen head.
In 1957, in the summer holidays, Pataudi made his first-class debut for Sussex. By 1959 he was good enough to score 52 against a Yorkshire attack which included Trueman, Close, Illingworth and Don Wilson. Soon afterwards he went up to Balliol, purportedly to read Arabic and French. In his first summer at Oxford he made a century (131) against Cambridge at Lord’s.
The next year, 1961, Pataudi, now captain of Oxford, reached his absolute peak. Against the full Yorkshire attack, which included four England bowlers, he scored 106 and 103 not out. When he turned Trueman, who was bowling at full pace, off his stumps for four down to long leg, the Yorkshire champion raised his hand in salute.
By the end of June, with three games still to play, Pataudi was only 92 runs short of his father’s record total of 1,307 runs in an Oxford season. Then came the accident in Hove.
His extraordinary determination and success in overcoming the injury to his right eye led to his being appointed vice-captain for India’s tour of the West Indies early in 1962. When the skipper, Nari Contractor, was laid out by a vicious delivery from Charlie Griffith in the game against Barbados, Pataudi took over and became, at 21 years and 77 days, the youngest captain in the history of Test cricket.
In fact this was something of a poisoned chalice. At that period the Indian side was bereft of adequate fast bowling, while internal rifts and divisions added to the captain’s difficulties. In 1964, however, Pataudi’s side managed to draw all the matches in a home series against England. In the fourth Test, in Delhi, he scored 203 not out in the second innings .
With typical honesty Pataudi played down this achievement, explaining that his runs had largely been made when the match was already dead. He was far prouder of his 128 not out in the first Test against Australia in Madras in October 1964. And in the next Test, at Bombay, his innings of 86 and 53 helped India to what was only their second victory against the Australians.
In 1965 Pataudi led his country to a 1-0 victory in a four-match rubber against New Zealand, saving his team in the second Test at Calcutta with an innings of 153, and then scoring 113 at Delhi. In 1966-67, however, the West Indian tourists proved too powerful.
The short tour of England in 1967 was marred by poor weather and a spate of injuries to the England team. India lost all three Tests; Pataudi, however, batted superbly in the first game at Headingley, scoring 64 and 148. He maintained good form with the bat in Australia in 1967, averaging 56.50: the Indians, however, were defeated in all four Tests.
Pataudi did not play Test cricket from 1970 to 1972. Meanwhile in 1971 the government stripped Indian princes of their titles, so that he became known officially, though not popularly, as Mansur Ali Khan.
When he returned to the Indian side in January 1973 the team was led by Ajit Wadekar. He was, however, reinstated as captain for the tightly contested home series, which the West Indians won 3-2 in the final Test.
After dislocating a finger in the first Test, and missing the second, Pataudi was unable to find any form with the bat in the remaining matches, and never played for India again. In 46 Test matches he had scored 2,793 runs at an average of 34.91. As captain he led India to nine victories and suffered 19 defeats, with 19 matches drawn.
In 1966 Pataudi had captained Sussex in the county championship. In Indian domestic cricket he had at first played for Delhi in the North Zone, before transferring in 1966 to Hyderabad in the South Zone .
Between 1957 and 1976 he played 310 first-class matches, scoring a total of 15,425 runs at an average of 33.67. A fine fielder, he took 208 catches.
Though stripped of his title, Pataudi retained a certain regal bearing, notwithstanding his affability and laconic humour. After retiring he undertook some work in journalism and television, and even dabbled briefly and unenthusiastically in politics. More recently he had been on the council of the Indian Premier League. On the whole, though, he preferred playing bridge and trying his hand as a cook; at his house in the centre of Delhi he was a most generous host. He also kept an apartment in London.
The crux of his life, however, was his family. In 1969 he married the film star Sharmila Tagore, the great-grandniece of the poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. A rare beauty, and charming with it, she had made her name in Satyajit Ray’s The World of Apu (1959). When she married Pataudi she converted from Hinduism to Islam.
Their son, Saif Ali Khan, born in 1970 , has become one of the heart-throbs of Bollywood. Of their two daughters, Saba is a jewellery designer, while Soha is a film actress, recently seen in Mumbai Cutting.
Tests between England and India are now played for the Pataudi trophy.
In 2004 the Noob, as he always remained to his school contemporaries, was invited back to Winchester for the Ad Portas ceremony, in which distinguished old boys are honoured. In general those received are expected to declaim in Latin. Pataudi, while greatly touched, preferred to end his speech in Urdu.
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