MANSUR ALI KHAN OF PATAUDI



🏏🏏
MANSUR ALI KHAN
(5 Jan 1941 - 22 Sep 2011)

Mohammed Mansur Ali Khan Siddiqui, the erstwhile ninth Nawab of Pataudi, the youngest and the 14th Indian Test captain, began his first class career with Sussex in 1957 at the age of 16...

An injured right eye in early 1961 left Mansur Ali Khan with only the left for his entire international career. Leading India in 40 out of the 46 Tests that he played, he scored 2793 runs with 6 centuries and 16 fifties, an unbeaten 203 being the highest. In 310 first class appearances, which included Oxford University, Sussex, Delhi and Hyderabad, he totaled 15425 runs with 33 hundreds and 75 fifties...

Mansur Ali Khan made his debut against England in the Delhi Test, December 1961. His match winning ton at Madras in that series earned him the vice-captain's spot, which did not last long as he had to take over the reigns from the injured skipper Nari Contractor during the 1962 West Indies tour. His last Test was at Bombay, against Clive Lloyd's West Indies in 1975, the Test in which the late Eknath Solkar scored his only ton...

Bold and adventurous with the willow, Mansur Ali Khan was unorthodox as well, revelling in lofting the ball to clear the infield with telling effect. In so far as his fielding was concerned, prominent commentator John Arlott and former England captain Ted Dexter had designated him as the "best fielder in the world"...

But above all, Mansur Ali Khan's presence infused fresh vigour and optimism, and consequently renewed the team's confidence as well. Under him, India achieved their first overseas Test victory, against New Zealand in 1967...

With his impressive personality, wit and repartee, general acumen, fitness and positivity decorated with Arjuna, Padma Shri, Indian and Wisden Cricketer awards, Mansur Ali Khan could be easily regarded of as the first superstar of Indian cricket, with few peers...

Mansur Ali Khan was the editor of a sports magazine, Sportsworld, from 1978 to 1994. He also officiated as a referee for two Ashes Tests in 1993. He has an autobiography, "Tiger's Tale" which hit the stands in 1969...

Mansoor Ali Khan did try his hand at politics. His lone essay on a Congress ticket in the electoral battle of 1991 from Bhopal failed to bear fruit, and he gracefully walked away from that space for good...

Mansur Ali Khan had the ignominy of remaining an accused in the black buck poaching case in June 2005. Six of his associates were convicted in 2015...

The Pataudi Trophy is the Test series between India and England, played in England, instituted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2007 in honor of Iftikhar Ali Khan (who played for both England and India) and his son Mansoor Ali Khan, marking 75 years of Test matches between the two nations. This underwent a change in 2025, and is now known as the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy...

The Tiger of Indian cricket lost his battle against interstitial lung disease, breathing his last in Sir Gangaram Hospital, Delhi, this day in 2011...

Being actively involved with a non-profit charitable eye institute serving the visually impaired, Mansur Ali Khan's wish to donate his eyes was duly fulfilled...

The BCCI instituted an annual memorial lecture in his memory from 2013...

A respected voice during his time, Mansur Ali Khan always played his part in his inimitable royal manner. His contributions shall always remain etched in the annals of history, of cricket and of India...

The legend thus lives on...

🙏🙏🌹💐   🇮🇳

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