Nawab of Pataudi played for England and India

By A. C. De Silva

FLASHBACK: The term Nawab of Pataudi refers to the lineage of rulers of the princely Pataudi State in India, but most commonly refers either to the 8th Nawab, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, who played cricket for both England and India, or his son, the 9th Nawab, who captained the Indian cricket team. Actor Saif Ali Khan, son of the ninth Nawab, was recently made the successive Nawab.

After being home to two generations of the Nawabs of Pataudi, cricketers Iftikhar Ali Khan and Mansur Ali Khan, the actress Sharmila Tagore entered the Pataudi Palace.

Full name Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Born January 5, 1941, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and Died September 22, 2011, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi (aged 70 years 260 days).

The Major teams that be played for India, Delhi, Hyderabad (India), Oxford University, Sussex.

He was a Right-hand bat and right-arm medium pace bowler.

He made his Test debut for India against England at Delhi, December 13 to 18 in 1961 and his last Test was against the West Indies at Mumbai January 23 to 29 in 1975.

The Nawab of Pataudi - later Mansur Ali Khan - was, arguably, India's greatest captain ever. Taking over the reins of the Indian team at the age of 21, barely months after being involved in a car accident that would impair the sight in his right eye forever, he led India in 40 of 46 Tests he played in, and won 9 of them.

But more than anything else, he led Indian cricket out of its morass of defeatism and instilled in his fellow cricketers a belief that winning was possible. Under him, India achieved their first overseas Test victory against New Zealand in 1967. This he achieved by playing, as had become customary with him, three spinners, because he reckoned, against conventional thinking, that India's only chance lay in playing to their strengths. As a batsman he was boldly adventurous and unorthodox for his times, and unafraid to loft the ball over the infield. His Test average was a modest 34, but what he could have achieved with complete sight is a matter of conjecture. Though he was the editor of a sports magazine for a decade, he remained generally aloof from the media and, for the most part, away from cricket administration.

But till his death to a lung ailment in 2011 his was a voice widely respected in the cricket community.