Without any doubt, Virender Sehwag is the true epitome of entertainment both on and off the field. On International Tiger’s Day, the swashbuckling batsman celebrated the occasion in his own unique manner by invoking Mansur Ali Khan ‘Tiger’ Pataudi’s greatness.
In his official Twitter account, the extremely popular cricketer wrote, “On #InternationalTigerDay worth rememberng [sic] Tiger Pataudi,who despite almost 0 vision in an eye did incredible things.”
Born on 5 January 1941, Pataudi played 46 Tests and scored 2793 runs at an average of 34.91 with six centuries as well as 16 fifties. However, it was his exemplary leadership skills that helped change the face of Indian cricket.
Realizing that the team’s strengths laid on spin bowling, he parted with the then existing trend of playing medium pacers and unleashed the famous quartet on opposition batsmen. The likes of Bishen Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan grew in stature under Pataudi’s captaincy to lead India to several memorable victories.
Also Read: MAK Pataudi - the man who looked adversity in the eye
The amazing thing about his legacy was that he did all that after being affected by an unfortunate accident in England. At the age of 20, the stalwart permanently damaged his right eye as a result of a glass piece smashing into him.
Following a surgery, Pataudi returned back to the game only to find out that he was impacted by double images. But, the freakish injury did not deter his mental strength and debuted against England in December 1961.
For the Nawab’s contribution to cricket, India’s Test series in England has been named after him. After the great man passed away on September 2011 due to a chronic lung disease, BCCI also inaugurated the Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi Memorial Lecture with eminent players such as Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid delivering the oration until now.
Sehwag’s Tweet on ‘Tiger’ Pataudi:
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