Dynamic,young and a born leader

Nawab of Pataudi Jr was also the first captain to realise the importance of a spin-heavy attack. Under him,Bishan Singh Bedi,R Venkataraghavan,Erapalli Prasanna and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar played in the same eleven for the first time at Edgbaston in 1967 and took 19 out of 20 wickets. India lost the Test,but the seed of Indias famous spin quartets dominance,that lasted over a decade,was sowed.

He wasnt just one of Indias finest captains,he was also the first of those. Tiger Pataudi was playing in just his fourth Test when he was shoehorned into the hot seat,after Nari Contactor got injured at Barbados in 1962. He was just 21 then. Pataudi went on to lead the country in 39 more Tests,notching up nine wins during the period a record that was broken by Mohammad Azharuddin,shortly before the turn of the century.

Stories of his leadership skills and his enviable captaincy record take precedence over his 2,793 stylish runs and six Test hundreds.

Off the field,he was a man of few words,but whenever he spoke,everyone listened. While he had a no-nonsense demeanour,his teammates recall him as a man with an incredible sense of humour. Pataudi was known to often crack jokes or recall funny incidents in the dressing room,and also loved to narrate inspiring stories to overcome fear against better oppositions.

He was dynamic,young and a perfect leader. After all,his background was such that he was destined to be a leader, says former team mate Salim Durrani. Although he came from a royal background,he didnt have any ego issues. He always made sure that his stature didnt come in the way of a friendship. Nawab sahab zameen par bhi baith jate.

Former players recall that Pataudi always borrowed the kit from his teammates and used to come to the ground only in his flannels and shoes. But that was only because he would generously gift his expensive English willows and other gear to the not-so-well-off players,albeit with an instruction: it was not to be publicised.

Explains Chetan Chauhan. He would give away all his equipment. But then,he would pull out all the bats from various kitbags and whichever bat he liked,he would go in with that.

Pataudis attacking style made him an iconic figure and his school of batting was revolutionary in those times,especially when the team was loaded with batsmen who liked to spend time at the crease. I was cautious,preferring to play along the ground. And Skipper used to make plenty of fun of it. He used to keep telling me,you guys are so unnecessarily serious about your batting. If you have a little fun in the middle,you will enjoy your stint and people will enjoy seeing you bat, remembers Chauhan.

His style made him Indian crickets first poster boy,and it went according to the script when he married movie star Sharmila Tagore.

Former Indian opener,Kenia Jayantilal,recalls another aspect of Pataudi his fielding.

I never saw him exercise,his athleticism and his talent were both very natural. He was also an outstanding fielder,its sad that no Indian player ever sought his advice on fielding.

My debut in the Ranji Trophy for Hyderabad in 1968 will always be memorable because of the mildly threatening encouragement I got from my father before I played my first match. He told me,You are replacing Pataudi in the team,since he is unwell. You better keep his name. That pushed me to scoring 152 against Andhra, he recalls.

Tigers name,after all,meant so much to Indian cricket.