Mohammad Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi – The Tiger of Indian Cricket

Today we remember one of the most talented cricketers India ever had, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi on his 78th birth anniversary.

Here we list we key things you might not know about the legendary Nawab!

He was Born in Bhopal on 5 January 1941.
He was the son of Iftikhar Ali Khan, a renowned cricketer and Sajida Sultan the Begum of Bhopal.
Mansoor’s grandfather Hamidullah Khan was the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal.

Alma mater:

Winchester College
Balliol College, Oxford

In 1957, he debuted first-class cricket for Sussex.
2 years later, in 1959 he captained his school team, smashing 1068 runs in a season, a record!
In July 1961, he was involved in an accident in which a shard of glass permanently damaged his right eye.
In a match, he realized after seeing two balls, six inches apart that the inner one is the true object. With some difficulty still, he chose to close the affected eye and scored runs comfortably after that.
In December 1961, despite trouble in one eye he was called to debute against England. He had remarkable beginnings. In his first four innings he scored 13, 64, 32, 103. He made so by pulling the peak of cap over right eye, hence eliminating the blurred double image.
A year later he was chosen as the captain of the Indian cricket team, doing so he became the youngest captain ever. He held the record for more than 40 years!
In 1969 he got married to Sharmila Tagore great-grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore.
While Captaining India to 3-2 against Windies in 1973, Khan dislocated finger in first match an injury which ended his career.
2008-10: He became the member of Council of the Indian Premier League.
22 September 2011: He took his last breaths, dying to respiratory failure.

Honours:

Arjuna Award 1964

Padma Bhushan 1967

Wisden Cricketer of the year 1968