Sportskeeda's Top 50 Indian Test cricketers of all-time (40-31)

#39 Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi

MAK Pataudi led India's self-respect movement by backing the team's strengths

Born into a royal family, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi's strong leadership played an instrumental role in enabling India to break free from the shackles of convention. Acknowledging the fact that the team's strengths lay in spin, he parted ways with those ineffective medium pacers and backed his slow bowlers to take on the challenge of picking up wickets right from the outset.

More often than not, Pataudi's side comprised of three world-class spinners. Even though most other teams employed swifter men with the new ball in order to land early blows, he ensured that the ball was roughed up quickly and brought his spinners into the attack following a few customary overs from the part-time seamers.

Upon empowering the tweakers to deliver the goods under different conditions, it was no coincidence that India's maiden Test, as well as series triumph away from home (3-1 in New Zealand, 1968), came under his captaincy.

Career Span: 1961-1975

Statistics: 2793 runs from 46 matches at an average of 34.91 with 6 centuries and 16 fifties