People saw Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi as a reserved person, but it was a wrong perception. He was a friendly guy who used to talk freely. And we were very good friends. In 1969, when selector Madhav Mantri named me captain, Pataudi supported me.
That was when I got close to him. He never had a problem playing under me and that, I thought, was very nice of him.
Hemade tremendous contributions as a player, batsman, fielder and, of course, captain. He always emphasised on fielding.
Tiger was a superb fielder and such was his power that his throw from the boundary line would land in the keeper’s gloves. He was nicknamed Tiger because of his quickness on the field. Normally, you wouldn’t see a person from a royal family being quick on the field while fielding or running between the wickets. They would have asked the diwan to do so (laughs), but MAK was different. He was athletic.
As far as captaincy is concerned, it wouldn’t be wrong to call him one of the most successful captains of India. He led India for 11 years, which is not a joke. You can’t compare captains of different eras, but he infused a fighting spirit in his players. He used to lead by example. And when I was the captain, he did not raise any issues. He obeyed whatever I said.
If I had a successful team and India had that spin quartet, it was because of Tiger’s initiative. Fast bowling was never our strength; hence he was the one who initiated the move to make spin our strength. I had a good stint as a captain because of him.
His playing with one eye is stuff of legends now. He changed his stance square to get a clearer view of the bowler. Even after the accident, he was as agile and quick as he was with both eyes.
Apart from being a fantastic cricketer, he was quite a prankster. Once we had gone to Bhopal to play a fund-raising game.
One day Vijay Manjrekar, Erapalli Prasanna, Vishy (GR Viswanath), MAK, myself, and a other players went hunting.
In the jungle, we were captured by some dacoits who demanded a ransom. Everyone was frightened, including Manjrekar, who said he was a worker in Kohinoor Mills, and Vishy, who said he had just come over to play cricket.
We all told the dacoits that MAK had brought us there, but they did not listen and demanded Rs2 lakh. MAK went and came back with a bag full of money. The next morning we saw the ‘dacoits’ at our breakfast table! That was one prank we still remember.
Wadekar succeeded Pataudi as India’s captain in 1969-70.
As told to Taus Rizvi
That was when I got close to him. He never had a problem playing under me and that, I thought, was very nice of him.
Hemade tremendous contributions as a player, batsman, fielder and, of course, captain. He always emphasised on fielding.
Tiger was a superb fielder and such was his power that his throw from the boundary line would land in the keeper’s gloves. He was nicknamed Tiger because of his quickness on the field. Normally, you wouldn’t see a person from a royal family being quick on the field while fielding or running between the wickets. They would have asked the diwan to do so (laughs), but MAK was different. He was athletic.
As far as captaincy is concerned, it wouldn’t be wrong to call him one of the most successful captains of India. He led India for 11 years, which is not a joke. You can’t compare captains of different eras, but he infused a fighting spirit in his players. He used to lead by example. And when I was the captain, he did not raise any issues. He obeyed whatever I said.
If I had a successful team and India had that spin quartet, it was because of Tiger’s initiative. Fast bowling was never our strength; hence he was the one who initiated the move to make spin our strength. I had a good stint as a captain because of him.
His playing with one eye is stuff of legends now. He changed his stance square to get a clearer view of the bowler. Even after the accident, he was as agile and quick as he was with both eyes.
Apart from being a fantastic cricketer, he was quite a prankster. Once we had gone to Bhopal to play a fund-raising game.
One day Vijay Manjrekar, Erapalli Prasanna, Vishy (GR Viswanath), MAK, myself, and a other players went hunting.
In the jungle, we were captured by some dacoits who demanded a ransom. Everyone was frightened, including Manjrekar, who said he was a worker in Kohinoor Mills, and Vishy, who said he had just come over to play cricket.
We all told the dacoits that MAK had brought us there, but they did not listen and demanded Rs2 lakh. MAK went and came back with a bag full of money. The next morning we saw the ‘dacoits’ at our breakfast table! That was one prank we still remember.
Wadekar succeeded Pataudi as India’s captain in 1969-70.
As told to Taus Rizvi
No comments:
Post a Comment