A prince among cricketersMansur Ali Khan Pataudi, who passed away in Delhi on Th ursday after a battle with interstitial

lung disease, was the last of the prince ly cricketers. Born into privilege his father, the Nawab of Pataudi, Sr., made a century on debut in Sydney in the first Test of the Bodyline series and was the only cricketer to represent both England and India in Tests Tiger (as M.A.K. Pa taudi was nicknamed) was a gifted and elegant batsman, a magnificent fielder, an d a natural leader of men. Educated at Oxford's Balliol College, he took over as captain of the Indian side when he was just 21 astonishingly, not long after lo sing vision in his right eye in a car accident. He went on to lead the country i n 40 of the 46 Tests he played. Arriving at a time when India was a perennial un derdog in the Test arena, he welded individual talents into a world-class team a nd led it with magisterial self-assurance and rare tactical nous. Sooner than an yone else, he saw that India must play to its strengths, which meant going all o ut with many-splendoured spin. His jaunty confidence and sanguine attitude rubbe d off on his teammates and it was under Tiger that India achieved its first over seas Test series triumph 3-1 against New Zealand in 1968. Hailed as a transforma tive influence on Indian cricket, Pataudi saw his star fading not long after. Ah ead of the tour of the Caribbean in 1971, the chairman of the Selection Committe e, Vijay Merchant, used his casting vote to replace Tiger with young Ajit Wadeka r at the helm. Wadekar justified the confidence placed in him by leading India to successive se ries wins in the West Indies and England but Tiger was not one to give up. He ma de a characteristic comeback, first as a player and then as captain, leading Ind ia at home against the West Indies in the close-fought 1974-75 series. He ended his Test career with an average of just over 34 but everyone recognised that in his case greatness could not be measured by statistics alone. Playing with one e ye long before the helmet arrived to protect face and skull, Tiger was courage p ersonified against fast bowling. There were times when his batting reached a lev el of subliminal beauty rarely matched by anyone in that era. More than his doub le hundred against England in New Delhi in 1964, or any of his five other hundre ds, connoisseurs of the game will recall Tiger's 75 and 85 made while nursing a hamstring injury in one leg against Australia at Melbourne in the 1967-68 series . In his retirement, Tiger made valuable contributions to Indian cricket and his incisive and forthright views set him apart from many a temporising expert. Lon g before the TV boom gave rise to Indian cricket's cult of celebrity, Pataudi, o n and off the field, was the real article a debonair superstar without a peer.