Former India cricket captain 'Tiger' Pataudi passes away
22 Sep 2011
Former Indian cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan, the erstwhile Nawab of Pataudi, passed away today at the age of 70.
'Tiger' Pataudi, as he was known in his heyday, was admitted to Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital last month following a lung infection. He was shifted to the hospital's intensive care unit last Thursday after his condition worsened.
Pataudi was on very high level of oxygen support, requiring intermitted BIPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) support, as his ailment - interstitial lung disease - does not allow normal passage of oxygen to both lungs. The patient breathes out unduly high levels of carbon dioxide during such an infection.
Pataudi, who in 1962 became India's youngest cricket captain at the age of 21, was regarded as one of the finest Indian captains of the 1960s. He played 46 Tests for the country, 40 of them as captain.
Despite being virtually blind in one eye after a car accident, he scored 2,793 runs for an average of 34.91, with an unbeaten 203 as his highest score. He hit six centuries and 16 half-centuries during his test career - a considerable achievement for an Indian player in those days.
He also led India to its first test win, against New Zealand on a tour to that country.
His father, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, was also a cricketer of note, having played for England in the 1930s before he fell foul of his captain, the controversial Douglas Jardine. Iftikhar refused to go along with Jardine's strategy of 'bodyline' bowling, which was considered unsporting at the time.
Mansur Ali Khan is survived by wife Sharmila Tagore, a former Hindi movie actress of note, and three children. One of them, Saif Ali Khan, has become a Bollywood star of note.