I had just about started on my research for my doctoral dissertation on the social history of Indian cricket. Not knowing the ropes of the cricket world, I was trying to figure out the best way to interview some of India?s former captains to enhance my understanding of the politics of Indian cricket. It was then that Raj Singh Dungarpur introduced me to Tiger Pataudi. Rajbhai had set up an appointment with Nawab Pataudi on the telephone and a rather apprehensive and somewhat nervous PhD student arrived in Delhi to meet the legend. It was around noon that I reached Tiger Pataudi?s Delhi home. The manicured lawns spoke of taste and the Nawab was in his study as I reached the door.
I very vividly remember the first question. He asked me if it was indeed true that I was doing a PhD on Indian cricket history at Oxford and if it was at all possible to do such a thing. Once I had confirmed that it was true he quizzed me for a while on India?s cricket history. Only when he was convinced that I knew my history did he start to open up and tell me things that helped me get a fundamentally different view of Indian cricket of the 1960s.
Speaking on taking over the Indian captaincy under the most difficult circumstances in 1962, Tiger Pataudi mentioned that he did not expect captaincy to come to him that early and had even felt that Chandu Borde might have done a better job in the circumstances. Not having played in the first two Test matches of the tour it was going to be mighty difficult for Tiger Pataudi to take charge of a team down 0-2 in the series. Adding to this was the fact that he had lost one eye not more than two years earlier, and had even contemplated giving up the game altogether because of the injury.
Taking charge of a bruised and demoralised team was no less difficult than trying to overcome his physical disability and the pressures of captaincy seriously impacted his batting in the Caribbean. He failed to score in the second innings of all of the remaining matches and returned to India with a series of questions being asked of his batting and his captaincy.
To be able to turn it around after such a difficult initiation said a lot about his strength of character. His moment came in 1964 when India beat Australia at the Brabourne Stadium chasing 264 in the fourth innings. Vijay Merchant heaped praise on Pataudi in his match report and stated clearly that the victory against Australia was one of the best victories in India?s cricket history. His 86 in the first innings of this match was ranked by him as one of the best innings he had played in his career. Interestingly, he placed this innings above most of the six hundreds he had scored for India. This draws attention to his cricket philosophy?what mattered was the eventual result and not individual milestones.
After the first interaction at his house I had the opportunity to go back and meet Tiger Pataudi on several more occasions and he was generous with both his time and energy. Every time I went back for more I left learning more about our cricket of the period, ethnography that I heavily drew upon in the course of writing my dissertation. He even gave me access to a few of his photographs and allowed me to use some of them for my Illustrated History of Indian Cricket.
He looked upon an understanding of our cricket history as fundamental and felt a deep sense of unease with none of the current stars barring Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble taking any interest in the past. This ?uprooting?, as he called it, was central to a growing gap between former and current cricketers and he always made it a point to emphasise the importance of knowing your past. His last wish? to be buried beside his parents in his native Pataudi also reflects his sense of history.
I must confess that in my own academic career Tiger Pataudi had an important role to play. He helped fashion my understanding of Indian cricket and my many meetings with him are memories I will always cherish.
The writer is a sports historian