Mansoor Ali Khan or
Mansur Ali Khan sometimes
M. A. K. Pataudi (5 January 1941,
Bhopal[1] – 22 September 2011,
New Delhi[2]), nicknamed
Tiger Pataudi, was an Indian
cricketer and former captain of the
Indian cricket team. He was the ninth
Nawab of Pataudi until 1971, when India abolished royal entitlements through the 26th Amendment to the
Constitution of India.
[3]
Early life
Mohamed Mansur Ali Khan was the son of
Iftikhar Ali Khan, eighth
Nawab of Pataudi and his wife
Sajida Sultan, second daughter of the last ruling
Nawab of Bhopal. He was born in
Bhopal and educated at A.M.U Minto Circle School in
Aligarh and then went to
Welham Boys' School in
Dehradun (
Uttarakhand),
Lockers Park Prep School in Hertfordshire (where he was coached by
Frank Woolley), and
Winchester College. He read Arabic and French at
Balliol College, Oxford.
[4]
His father died while playing polo in Delhi on Mansoor's eleventh birthday in 1952, whereupon Mansoor succeeded as the ninth
Nawab of Pataudi. While the
princely state of Pataudi had been merged with India after the end of the
British Raj
in 1947, Mansoor inherited the titular dignity of Nawab of Pataudi. He
held the title until the entitlements were abolished by the Government
of India through the 26th amendment to the constitution in 1971.
Cricketing career
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi's career performance graph.
Pataudi Jr., as Mansoor came to be known during his cricket career,
was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler.
[5]
He was a schoolboy batting prodigy at Winchester, relying on his keen
eyes to punish the bowling. He captained the school team in 1959,
scoring 1,068 runs that season and beating the school record set in 1919
by
Douglas Jardine. He also won the public schools rackets championship, with partner Christopher Snell.
[4]
He made his first-class debut for Sussex in August 1957, aged 16, and
also played for Oxford while he was at university. On 1 July 1961, he
was a passenger in a car which was involved in an accident in
Hove.
A shard of glass from the broken windscreen penetrated and permanently
damaged his right eye. The damage caused Pataudi to see a doubled image,
and it was feared this would end his cricketing career, but Pataudi was
soon in the nets learning to play with one eye.
[4][6][7]
Despite his eye injury less that 6 months before, he made his Test debut playing against England in Delhi in December 1961.
[4]
He found it easiest to play with his cap pulled down over his damaged
right eye. He scored 103 in the Third Test in Madras, helping India to
its first series win against England.
[8]
He was appointed vice-captain for the tour to the West Indies in 1962.
In March 1962, Mansoor became captain of the Indian cricket team after
the sitting captain
Nari Contractor was ruled out of the Fourth Test in Barbados due to an injury sustained by Contractor batting against
Charlie Griffith in a tour match against Barbados.
[7] At 21 years and 77 days, he held the world record for the youngest Test captain until he was surpassed by
Tatenda Taibu in May 2004. As of 2011, he remains the youngest Indian Test captain.
[9]
He played in 46
Test matches for India between 1961 and 1975, scoring 2,793 runs at a Test batting average of 34.91, including 6 Test centuries.
[5]
Mansoor was captain of the Indian cricket team in 40 of his 46 matches,
only 9 of which resulted in victory for his team, with 19 defeats and
19 draws. His victories included India's first ever Test match win
overseas against New Zealand in 1968. India went on to win that series,
making it India's first ever Test series win overseas.
[10]
He lost the captaincy of the Indian cricket team for the tour to the
West Indies in 1970-1, and did not play Tests from 1970 to 1972. He
returned to the India side captained by
Ajit Wadekar
in 1973, for the Third Test against England, and captained India
against West Indies in 1974-5, but was finally dropped as a player in
1975.
Between 1957 and 1970 Mansoor, following his countrymen
Ranjitsinhji and
Duleepsinhji, played 137 first class matches for
Sussex County Cricket Club scoring 3,054 runs at an average of 22.29.
[11]
He captained Sussex in 1966. In India, he played first-class cricket
for Delhi in the North Zone until 1966, and then for Hyderabad in the
South Zone.
He was an
Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year in 1962, and a
Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1968. He published an autobiography,
Tiger's Tale, in 1969. He was the manager of the India team in 1974-5, and referee for two Ashes Tests in 1993.
[12] He was later a member of the council of the
Indian Premier League. In 2007, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of India's Test debut, the
Marylebone Cricket Club
has commissioned a trophy for Test match series between India and
England which was named the Pataudi Trophy in honour of his father, the
8th Nawab.
Personal life
On 27 December 1967, Mansoor married actress
Sharmila Tagore, great-grandniece of
Rabindranath Tagore. They had three children:
In June 2005, Mansoor Ali Khan was arrested for poaching
Blackbuck deer, a protected species in India.
[13] He was released on bail after two days in jail.
[14]
His uncle was General
Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, and his first cousin Nawab
Shahryar Khan, who was the former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan. His cousin Major General Isfandiyar Ali Pataudi, son of
Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, is the commander of the 26th Mechanized Division of Pakistan Army.
Death
Pataudi was admitted to
New Delhi's
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on 22 September 2011 with an acute lung infection. The infection was caused by chronic
interstitial lung disease which prevented his lungs from exchanging oxygen properly
[10] The same day he died of
respiratory failure.
[10][15] His body was buried at
Pataudi near
Delhi[16]
on 23 September 2011. His funeral was attended by large number of film
actors, directors and producers, as well as cricketing fraternity.
To see more of who died in 2011
click here