LOL... the commentary excerpt is a classic. Thanks Samir, I only listened to Mr. Pataudi once. I may be wrong, but I think he gave commentary in one of the ODIs when South Africa played India for the first time. I remember my father telling me (aged 13) so much about the man then. But I could never have recalled any of his exact words. He was forthright in all his TV-news-channel appearances, and a sheer delight because there have been very few as candid as Mr. Pataudi.

When cricket started in Sharjah, then Nawab sahab would be there as an expert and we all would love to hear him chatting with Chishtiee Mujahid, Narottam Puri,Iftekhar. He had a lovely sense of humour.I saw him bat in the 1974-75 series against the W Indies, we lost the series3-2, all the tests were decided.He was something I cannot explain as am at a loss of words.

I love the concept of just choosing an eleven who were legends to you as a child. I was born in 1954, and my first cricket memory was with my grandpa watching Cowdrey coming out to bat with his broken arm against Hall and Griffith in 1963. So with that as my background and with obvious byas as an English kid, here is my childhood "legends" eleven:

Bobby Simpson (his endless boring 311 in 1964)
Geoff Boycott (wearing his spectacles of course)
Hanif Mohammed (held record of 499 in an innings--unimaginable!)
Colin Cowdrey (my hero, I guess)
Nawab of Pataudi (ONLY under that intriguing title!)
Colin Bland (the best fielder I ever saw)
Artie Dick (NZ w/k in 1965; ashamed to say we found his name amusing)
R.G. Nadkarni (unbelievably bowled 32 overs for 5 runs in 63-64 series)
Fred Titmus (great spinner, and I remember they made him opening bat against SA in 65-66 series)
Fred Truman (watched him become the first to 300 wickets)
Wes Hall (Just absolutely terrifying fast it seeme

Author has given a vivid descrption of the man and one can make out the genius from his writing. Pataudi was honest in his opinion and his cricketing knowledge is second to none. I have not heard him doing commentary but from what the author wrote about him on the topic, I enjoyed every moment of it. Tiger Pataudi inculcated the fielding sense in our team and his asggressiveness brought a new dimension to the Indian team.

My introduction to test cricket started with 74-75 series against WI and that's when I first came to know of Tiger. My father,an avid cricket fan, used to tell me about many of his exploits over the years. I was amazed that he could play the WI fast bowlers with only one good eye and achieved the success he did. I believed he was a natural stroke player who could have scaled more heights but for his disability. RIP Tiger, we miss you!.

Excellent and apt description of Pataudi's style, be it on the field or off the field. I grew up listening to the Tiger's exploits and had an opportunity of watching the Calcutta Test during the 1974-75 series against the mighty West Indies. I tell my kids the nuances of the great man's moves in field placements on the field; his master moves in bringing on the spinners at crucial times. If one has to watch cricket it has to be at Eden Gardens, with the ever knowledgeable crowd, who describe everything on the field to everyone who wished to know. Samir, I wish someone like you describe the whole test series, from the time Tiger was dropped in Bangalore to the time he was brought in for the Calcutta test with a team of his choice, and how he squared the series 2-2 at Madras. If not for another great man, Clive Lloyd's century, we would have won this test too. If not for his losing an eye, he would have been the greatest test cricketer of all time. Rest in peace Tiger.

Your dream team dates you. Being of the fifties generation, I would have included Sobers, Umrigar and Jaishima.

Cyclopsean. Love it Pops.

I recall an instance in 1983 in the Bombay test with West Indies, the TV commentator (perhaps Fredun DeVitre)impressed with Ashok Malhotra's 72 not out asked Pataudi 'Tiger, don't you think Malhotra's batting today reminds one of Viswanath.' After a brief pause and quite uncomfortable with the comparison, Tiger remarked " Viswanath was in a class of his own ". Not due to his soft corner for Vishy(he deserved it), but he was quite objective. Earlier, he didn't support Vishy's vice captaincy for the 80-81 twin tour of Aus-NZ preferring Kapil or Vengsarkar over him keeping the long term view of the team. In fact, after the tour, in his review, he did mention that 'Vishy was finished'. A year and a half later, Vishy was out of the Indian team.

During the 84-85 WI series at home, WI had been reduced to 140 for 5 before Richards with the lower order took them to mammoth score at Kolkata. Freddie De Vitre decided to ask Tiger's opinion about Indian spinners' performance - Raghuram Bhatt, Shivlal Yadav etc. Tiger's caustic response: "Freddie, I am a bit spoilt. I played my cricket with Bedi, Chandra, Pras, Venkat."

Pataudi was a hero for those of us growing up in late 60 s , early 70s. As a 8 year old my endearing memory of Tiger was his 73 vs England in 72. the straight six that he hit off Pat Pocock which landed just behind the side screen is still green in my memory. In the 74 - 75 West Indies series in Chennai, Bernard Julian ( or was it Kieth Boyce) was lofting the ball to all corners when tiger had a work with Prasanna. First ball after that , fligted ball, hit for a 6. Next ball, prasanna bowls another flighted ball and calmly walks to Mid off after his fall of through and takes a retunr catch. Great captain, great leader. Whenthe news of his passing came it was as if a family member had passed on. So much was the impression that he had on folks of that generation. Will never be another like him

I am now 77 years old. To me, perhaps to my generation, Mansur Ali Khan was THE NAWAB, not just in name but by character and performance. It is my firm view that the Nawab losing an eye in a car accident was the greatest tragedy ever to afflict Indian cricket. I saw him bat as an Oxford undergraduate against the truly strong English County attacks of the 1950s, particularly that of Yorkshire - he devastated them all with panache. If his sight had remained, he would have become the greatest ever Indian Test batsman bar none, with a charisma equalling if not exceeding that of Tendulkar. As it is, Pataudi Sahib has left us splendid memories of grace and leadership.

I born when Nawab sahab retired from test cricket however he is stil my hero in a era where i have seen Sachin,Lara,Warne.It took me two years to get his autobiography "Tiger's Tail" from Newzeland Library. It is shame, i cud not get it in India. A royal player and a royal human Being. We will miss you sir.

I could fully agree with your comments and most of my fellow readers comments.
I was a 11 year old when WI played India at Chepauk and as a city school and under 12 player we were allowed free entry,that helped me because i studied in a school just 5 minutes away. We would sneak in whenever we had time and after the school hours. I couldnt recollect all what the elite,educated spectators,the most knowledgeable crowd of Chennai spoke about him but one thing was sure they spoke very high about him and even after his retirement.
As a child of the academic oriented families, when i took to cricket, the first comment i heard was "look he wants to become another Pataudi-Yeh moo aur masoor ki daal" that tells us how even people who didnt like the game loved pataudi and infact adored him. That was like a good cricket players name became synonymous with Pataudi as-Google has become a buzz word for search engines.
With due respect to current crop of players and captains-he was the ultimate.

Will modify US_Indian's comment a bit-"With due respect to current crop of CAPTAINS-he was the ultimate." The present Indian incumbent is no patch on him as a skipper. And as a player, let us not even start comparing. Will do so when Dhoni gets SOME runs in Australia. Makes one play around with a famous Hindi saying and alter it as "Kheloge-kudooge banoge Nawab!" I suppose Samir is talking about Tiger's dropping as leader in 1971. He was never sacked as a team member. He just made himself unavailable for the 71-Windies series, and the 71 & 74 English tours. Also, I suppose Mr.Chopra means that he was recalled as captain in 74-75. Because, as player he'd 3 Test appearances against Tony Lewis' side in 72-73. Also, Vivek Challaa incorrectly says that Pat was dropped in 74-75. He just missed one match out of 5 on account of injury, and Venkat lead the team in his place. So, in effect Mansur's record in that contest is 2-2!

I love His courage. never saw him bat. his death inspired me to fight in life

Yes, he was a great cricketer and shrewd student of the game. In the 1975 unofficial series against Sri Lanka, he was an AIR commentator. The Indian captain moved a fielder and Pataudi said that the bowler, Rakesh Tandon (leg spinner) would toss the next one up. He did !! In the 1967 Leeds test he scored 64 and 148 and got more applause for his 64 than Geoff Boycott got for his 248. Pataudi never had the luxury of leading a great or even a good team. But he made do with his meagre resources without complaint. Just imagine, in the 1967 series against England, Budhi Kunderan the reserve wicket keeper, opened the bowling !! In 1972 everyone thought he was finished and he even sat among the spectators during the 1 st. Test at Delhi. An AIR commentator observed this and said,"Well he isn't quite out of cricket." He was given a chance to redeem himself in the South Zone Vs MCC game and he grabbed his opportunity with a century. He played in the next Test at Chepauk and top scored with 73!

It was perhaps the same match in Delhi when Sushil Doshi after Kapil Dev's rash stroke which got him out said, "Kapil Dev gairjimmedari se khele" and Pataudi who normally spoke about cricket only in English interjected with "Gair Zimmedari se nahin, sushil, bahut Gair Zimmedari se khele"

dear sirs,
as a 8 year old boy-the first test match that i watched was the test match in chennai-pataudis second test match-his first test century-for a 8 year old-the enduring image is about his astounding fielding-and his adventurous batting-no one with his handicap-could have played test cricket-please read ted dexters book-the great batsmen-from bradman-to boycott-and his analysis of pataudis genius-with 2 eyes-he would have equalled gary sobers and bradman-dear sir-you were the greatest indian captain-i was privilidged to watch you-rip.
with warm regards,
dr.ramdas rai

Then his comment to the selectors on Abid Ali "gentlemen, Abid is a player of reflexes and I am afraid his reflexes are not what they were."

he was really great

Another classic comment by Tiger was when Kapil hit Marshall for a four. The shot was a mix between a drive, a cut and an edge. But it brought up Kapil's 50. The commentator (Naorottam Puri) sang the praises of that particular shot telling us how Kapil was an improviser of shots and then asked Tiger what he thought. Tiger's reply (a classic) was very short and to the point. He said, "No comment. Lloyd was slow otherwise Kapil's back in the pavilion"