Published: Sep 23, 2011, 11:04 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 10, 2014, 07:48 PM (IST)
By Vincent Sunder
The charismatic Tiger Pataudi was a phenomenal captain who earned the respect of the cognoscenti around the world of cricket. Unlike the modern times, there were no telecasted images and commercial consideration in Tiger’s playing day to brainwash followers and develop cricketing heroes. Olden day cricketing heroes were born more by ‘seeing’ the game through live commentaries and the detailed press reports that appeared the following day.
The world of cricket called him Tiger as did his own family and friends, but he was born Mohammad Mansur Ali Khan of Pataudi. “I don’t really know why, except as an infant it seems I had a tigerish propensity for crawling energetically about the floor on all fours”, he explained his nickname in his autobiography Tigers Tale, published in 1970.
From being a fine young batting prospect, who braved it to play cricket at the highest level after a car accident that robbed him of one eye, to taking over the captaincy of the Test side at age 21 in unexpected circumstances, Pataudi brought about the renaissance in Indian cricket.
Laments, Raju Mukherji in his book, Cricket In India — Origin and Heroes, “Those were days of disappointments; the years of grief. The Indian cricketers just would not gel as a combined unit. Team spirit was at a discount. Parochialism and prejudice ruled the roost and the country’s cricketing reputation lay in tatters”. He goes on to write, “the winter of 1961-62 brought about a refreshing transformation.” And what caused this? “…….. the advent of one man, who was destined to lead India into an era of freedom from submissive self-consciousness”.
The 1961-62 series that Mukherji refers to was Pataudi’s debut series. He scored 103 against England at Madras (Chennai) in January 1962 in the last Test of the series, but was not in the playing eleven against West Indies in the first and second Tests played in February and March of the same year! It was only Nari Contractor’s injury which pitch-forked him to lead the side in the third Test.
Pataudi’s genius as a captain was evident when he helped India fightback from 0-2 to 2-2 against Clive Lloyd’s West Indies in 1974. The scene was the third Test at Calcutta. Gundappa Viswanath’s brilliant 139 in the second innings had set the West Indies a target of 310 to wrap up the series. Raju Mukherji recalls in his book, “On the final morning when Lloyd and Alvin Kallicharran were going great guns, Tiger did not relinquish his faith in Chandrasekhar. Chandra came in for some punishment and Eden (Gardens) roared it’s disapproval of Tiger’s insistence on Chandra. But Tiger knew his mind and his gamble paid off as Chandra went through the defenses of Lloyd and Kallicharran”.
Echoing similar views, Prasanna in his autobiography One More Over narrates, “Tiger gambled like a crazy punter. His dare-devil tactics paid off. The crowd worshipped him. Tiger got the best out of everybody, and we won.”
Prasanna goes on to say, “In Test cricket the outstanding captain under whom I have played is Tiger Pataudi”. Writing on the West Indies tour of 1962, he says “I did not play in the remaining three Tests that Tiger led on that (West Indies) tour. But I was privileged to see the making of a great Test captain. To lead stalwarts like Vijay Manjrekar and Polly Umrigar in an uninhibited manner and with confidence was not easy.”
Prasanna goes on to say, “Never fussy or flurried, Tiger went about his business so calmly that playing under him was no strain at all. When I bowled a bad one he never grimaced. On the other hand, after a poor over, he would come to me and say, ‘This is over and now get down to bowling well. I know you can!’ ”
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar recalls in his biography The Winning Hand, “He was different, unlike any other Indian cricketer. When I first met him, I was awe-struck. It was difficult not to be. I never saw anyone more phlegmatic. After the win against the West Indies, he thanked me and Vishy.”
The visionary in Pataudi came to the core when Vijay Merchant, the chairman of selectors, queried the selection of Gundappa Viswanath in the playing XI against Australia. To Merchant’s comment that he had never seen the lad [Vishy] bat in a match, Pataudi retorted that he had and he was satisfied that the lad had a brilliant future!
It was not about records or the runs, though he had his share of memorable innings. A fine fielder which was a rarity in those days, Pataudi was one of those rare batsmen who attacked and fearlessly played the ball in the air, something unthinkable in those days. And Pataudi, the captain, brought about a more radical change; a change that brought in self belief and self respect and had players finding their voice and giving full vent to their personalities.
A rare cricketer, the passing away of Pataudi will be mourned by many of those who played with him and by those of us followers of the game who enjoyed his batting, fielding and leadership. He was a relatively unsung hero of India’s cricketing renaissance, and old timers would argue (with good reasons) that he ranks amongst the best captains, if not the best ever cricketing leader, the country has produced.
May his soul Rest In Peace.
(Vincent Sunder aspired to play Test cricket, but had to struggle to play ‘gully’ cricket! He managed a league side to title triumph in the KSCA tournaments. He was debarred from umpiring in the gully games after he once appealed vociferously for a caught-behind decision when officiating as an umpire! After two decades in the corporate sector, he became an entrepreneur with the objective of being able to see cricket matches on working days as well. Vincent gets his ‘high’ from cricket books and cricket videos and discussing cricket)
