Whilst reading the obituaries of former Indian skipper Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, a number of things struck us about the man they called ‘Tiger’.
The most notable of these of course was the fact that his 46 Test career and 2,793 runs at a respectable average of 35 was achieved with just one eye. That is pretty amazing given how fundamental it is for a batsman to be able to see a cricket ball. Given that amongst other achievements prior to his injury, Tiger had beaten Douglas Jardine’s runs record at Winchester, it is highly likely that but for his impaired vision he would have been in the top echelon of Indian batsmen ever.
Like his fellow Wykehamist Jardine, Pataudi was an outstanding captain who led India in 40 of his 46 Tests and pioneered their usage of a three (and sometimes four) pronged spin attack, which for a short time in the early 1970s made them the top Test side in the world. Given that they had been one of the whipping boys of international cricket prior to Tiger’s ascent to the captaincy, it can be said that Indian cricket today owes a lot to the vision of Pataudi.
Finally, we also recognised that he was the only member of the BCCI’s governing council to admit culpability in the furore leading up to the sacking of Lalit Modi and the bloody aftermath that followed judging that the Board had: "failed in its role to monitor the IPL's administration and be more questioning of decisions taken." This was a mantra he continued to preach until he died.
Tough, brave, visionary and incorruptible.
Sounds like a bloody good bloke to us.
Of all the losses suffered by Indian cricket this summer, the death of Tiger is unquestionably the worst.
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