Book Review: On the eve of Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement, I review a book about another ‘Nawab of Cricket’ who too played and retired at his own terms.
Though I am not a cricket buff, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi has always fascinated me.
He was the Nawab of Pataudi, or, Tiger or Tyg to friends. This is why I picked up “Pataudi, Nawab of Cricket”, a book edited by Suresh Menon with, a foreword by Sharmila Tagore.
Here was a real Nawab, though without the privy purses and the title, but with a definite air of royalty. I’d even thought of Pataudi when Padmini Kolhapure planted a kiss on the cheek of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.
His marriage to Sharmila Tagore interested me. Here was a true-blue Nawab, who was marrying an actress, an actress whose family tree connected with Rabindranath Tagore. She had debuted in a Satyajit Ray film and had ‘shocked’ the world (the world that was interested in such things) by wearing a two-piece bikini and more important, was a Hindu. These people seemed to belong to a world that was way different from the world of Syed Shahabuddin and LK Advani.
I believe that their marriage added to their stature.
What impressed me was the stories about Pataudi losing his eye and yet bouncing back to become one of the greatest captains and cricketers in India. There might have been more details in some books, and if there was one I think “Tiger’s Tales”. I missed reading it. It was only from the articles that paid tributes to him after his death, that I learned more about him. I read every account, and forgot about it.
When I came across “Pataudi, Nawab of Cricket”, and read Suresh Menon describing Sharmila Tagore as the driving force behind this anthology, I thought this would be a great way to know about the real Pataudi. This collection of articles written by the likes of Abbas Ali Baig, M. J. Akbar, Naseruddin Shah, Bishan Singh Bedi, Ian Chappell, Sunil Gavaskar, David Wooley QC, Rajdeep Sardesai, the Nawab’s two daughters, Saba Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan, and Sharmila Tagore is more like a teaser.
Pataudi, as a subject is fascinating, and some of the writers have done a great job. Suresh Menon writes, “Tiger led a self-respect movement, inspiring players to believe in themselves, and to see their gifts as equal, if not superior, to those of any other players in the world. For too long, India had been nursing a colonial hangover…”
Or like Bishan Singh Bedi quotes the Nawab, “Listen fellas, we are not playing for Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Bengal or Maharashtra. We are playing for India. Think India, for goodness’ sake…”
The surprise for me was two articles, one each by his daughters, Saba Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. They write so well. And the disappointment was the absence of an article by Saif Ali Khan. Saif has a wry sense of humor, which I now believe, he has inherited from his father. A tribute-article from the son would have been great.
The Nawab is an inspiring figure, having overcome the handicap of losing an eye in an accident and making it big on the cricket field. His understatements (‘It was a bit of bad luck’), his humour (‘Your Highness will do.’ When he was asked how he should be addressed.), his quirky way of picking up the nearest bat and playing, and the ‘rascal’ in him leaves me wishing that I’d met him.
Maybe, I’d have written a book on his life, even without knowing much about cricket. Like Pataudi said, “In a country of the blind, it has been said, the one-eyed man is king. But in the keen-eyed world of cricket, a fellow with just one good eye-and-a-bit, has to settle for something less than the perfection he once sought.”
I too would have settled for less than perfection – not Pataudi, the cricketer but Pataudi, the Nawab. Who knows, I might still write a book on Nawab of Pataudi.
*Mohan Deep is the author of ‘The Five Foolish Virgins’.
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