Defiant Tiger No More

Tiger Pataudi , one of the finest Indian cricketers I have seen on the field of play, is no more. I have to pay a tribute to him.

I must hark back to the only time I got an opportunity to watch him play for India – the Third Test of the India-West Indies 1974-75 series.

Gordon Greenidge and Andy Roberts made their respective debuts for the WI in the First Test under captain Clive Lloyd who had just started on his Alexandrian all-conquering path.

There was a captaincy crisis in the Indian team. A somewhat disgraced Ajit Wadekar had been sacked after the Indian team’s humiliating defeat in England – the Summer of 42 series.

Tiger Pataudi was called back from retirement as skipper of the Indian team. There was much speculation, but most of us had come to the conclusion that Old Man Pataudi could do little better and we have to suffer watching yet another humiliating series loss.

And so it turned out. The Windies came to Eden for the Third Test with two wins in a 5-match series. By that time everyone had begun to write off the tour as a possible 5-0 wash out.

By then, however, Tiger Pataudi had already become Banglar Jamai having tied the knot with Sharmila in 1969. That he would play at Eden sparked off a lot of excitement. And, typically of Bengalis and Eden, there was this unrealistic buzz around the ground that he would lead an Indian turnaround here, at this hallowed ground.

There was bad news for India, however. Little Master Gavaskar was not playing – some injury, or more likely a tiff with the board – I don’t remember the details – but he was not playing.

The bespectacled Angshuman Gaekwad making his debut did not inspire much confidence when you thought of the Windies pace attack led by Roberts who had already revealed himself to be the kind of tear away that he was.

And, Greenidge, Richards, Kallicharan and Lloyd had already proved that they were more than a match against the Indian spin quartet. In the Second Test, the veteran Gibbs had also shown that spinning tracks could mean more disaster for India because then they would have to contend with not only the pace but also the spin of the WI.

Against this backdrop of gloom, the Eden test started with the unrealistic Edenite hope that Tiger Pataudi would turn on the Indian spin magic in a way such that there would be victory here just as the last Test here had also seen an Indian triumph against England. There was faith in the spinners, there was faith in Engineer, in Tiger Pataudi and, of course, in Vishy.

The Test started and soon Eden fell into a hushed silence. Opener Naik went in the first over. One down Sharma was gone at 23 and in walked Vishy to thunderous cheers. But very soon, the other opener, the great Engineer himself, was gone for 32.

Hushed silence? Not anymore, because Banglar Jamai Pataudi was coming out to bat amidst even more thunderous cheers.

And then the tide turned. Pataudi led a fight back that saw India win the Eden test and the next one at Chennai only to lose the last six-day Fifth Test in Mumbai to finally concede the series 3-2.

I remember that match because of several things. As a cricketer and cricket lover, I will never forget them as I have already mentioned in an earlier Face Book post. I won’t repeat myself here except to say that on that first day, Pataudi, by leading the fight back in a way that Eden had wanted, and showing Indian batsmen how to bat against mighty pace, created an unforgettable milieu. He reminded everyone why he was called Tiger.

I salute thee and touch thy feet with great humility. Yet another teacher, who taught me the meaning of defiance, has passed away! May he rest in peace even as I cry.