Tiger Pataudi was wishing he could have a ‘fast bowler’ son, then learnt about Soha’s birth: ‘Before they discovered I was a girl, he said…’

Soha also opened up about why she never considered pursuing cricket professionally, despite her family’s legacy. “Because, I think, in those days, being a female cricketer was not really one of the options you even considered. Today, of course, it’s very different. You have women’s IPL, women’s national cricket team. People like Mithali Raj and the current team are really influential and doing well for themselves. But when I was born, women’s cricket was not even a thing. Even in school, there was only men’s cricket team. Women were playing volleyball, basketball, tennis and all the other sports,” she said.

She was quick to clarify, however, that her passion for sports remains strong. “But I’m a very good sportsperson and I’m very good at racquet sports and I’m always looking for people to play badminton well.” In another recent interview with Hauterfly, Soha spoke candidly about her parents’ relationship and the unique family dynamic she grew up with. She shared that despite her father’s aristocratic roots, he held progressive views, especially when it came to gender roles in marriage.

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“It was very normal for us, because how can you compare your childhood to anyone else’s. Of course, my father was a professional athlete. He worked a lot, he captained India for close to 10 years, and then he retired. I was born after that. For me, he was always a stay-at-home dad. Also, he was from a royal family, so he didn’t really have a job or an income,” she said.