"I really
respected him" – This remark may neither raise eyebrows nor would it
register very strongly on anyone's mind. But if you know that it was Sachin
Tendulkar making such a remark, you would stick to the word 'really' and start
admiring the person, whoever the great batsman is referring to.
Tendulkar was
referring to Former Indian captain Mansoor
Ali Khan Pataudi, who passed away on 22nd of September 2011. It
would be interesting to know that Tendulkar was barely a 2-year old when
Pataudi played his last International match. It needs sheer genius in a person
to earn respect, in the heart of a cricketer who started playing serious
cricket, a decade after he had retired.
Most of us, who have grown in the constant shower of cricket, just
because we are close to India, have heard of him. Hardly a few have seen him
play. Yet we know of him. Probably, among the cricketers who played before the
television era, he was the only icon that we knew, with the exception of Sir Don
Bradman and Great Garry Sobers. Not many can boast to have such a long
shelf-life after retiring, something most sportsmen would envy.
Having seen him only in interviews, except some grainy black and white
television footages, yours truly learnt that cricket is just an extension of
this princely being. The aura of the Republican Prince – as termed by a cricket
writer – was overwhelming. A desire to interview the person behind Ray Ban
glasses grew. It's perhaps not worth mentioning that yours truly could only get
to as far as meeting Sharmila Tagore, his wife for 4 decades.
As I asked her, how it felt to have been married to a Rockstar cricketer,
she would reply, "I married a human being. His cricket never interfered
our lives." A line with a smile, which used to floor millions during her
film days, now with added affection... A lesson you learn, in life – Keep
things simple.
We've seen a lot
of cricketers who could not carry the weight of their lineage. Ask, Rohan
Gavaskar (son of Sunil Gavaskar) and Liam Botham (son of Ian Botham), how
difficult it could be. Mansoor Ali Khan had a proud lineage to live up to,
cricket historians and writers still write about Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi's
leg glance and his famous opposition to Douglas Jardine's Bodyline tactics.
Yet he became the
youngest Test captain of the world – the record remained till Tatenda Taibu
became Zimbabwe's captain in 2004 – and made India a team that could win
matches abroad (India won its first abroad series under him). He is the one
credited with giving Indian cricket a new and proud face, 4 decades before
Sourav Ganguly patented the style towards turn of the century. Khan would be
remembered for developing Indian spin quartet as a force, akin to what the West
Indians developed in form of the pace quartet, albeit much later. All this
happened, after he had already lost vision in one of his eyes. Interesting to
learn that he donated another one, a week before he died…
One reason why the
great Imran Khan said, "… he was a genius of great proportions."
While the cricket world
pays farewell to Pataudi, we wait for our next coach, Former Sri Lankan Cricketer Pubudu Dassanayake, who's due to arrive coming
week. He has already said that he would want to take Nepal to higher
rank and possibly into the World Cup. We would love to see that. He has already
proved his mettle, taking Canadian team into the World Cup.
One thing
Dassanayake would do well to remember is that his compatriot, Roy Dias has already
done the groundwork. He would rather not reinvent the wheel and try to add on
to the achievements we've already had. Much will also depend on how 'localized'
he gets and tries to earn the respect of the players, who sometimes get complacent
and carried away.
(PS: The write-up
appeared in Yours Truly's weekly sports column - OFFSIDE - in The Kathmandu
Post, on 24th September, 2011)
4 comments:
Excellent :))
Nice one..
Nice write-up! May Pataudi saheb's soul rest in peace.
Awesome! :)) The actual taste of my liking region! :))
Post a Comment