Those who are claiming that Tiger's death today is the "end of an era" in Indian cricket are maybe not aware how close to the mark they are. It truly is an end of an era in the sense that the Nawab of Patuadi was the last link to royalty in Indian cricket. Once, Indian cricket was nurtured by royal patronage. Maharajas and Nawabs took great pride in playing the sport as well as owning teams that were fielded in friendly but fierce competition against each other.
The Holkars patronised early Indian greats like CK Nayudu, Mushtaq Ali and Chandu Sarwate. The Gaekwad kings of Baroda had a similar legacy, as did the Scindias of Gwalior. The Mysore royal family always considered Karnataka cricket its ancestral property until recently. The 2 princes of Jamnagar, Ranji and Duleep Singhji gave Indian cricket its earliest global exposure.
After independence there were at least 3 royals who continued their close involvement in Cricket - Madhav Rao Scindia as an able administrator and occasional if very keen club cricketer, Raj Singh Dungarpur, an able and talented first class Cricketer and one of the architects of the modern BCCI and the Indian team, and the great Nawab of Pataudi Junior, who played the game with distinction at the highest level. All 3 have now passed on, and with them has ended Indian cricket's association with its royal past.
There are no more princes, and though I am no romantic, there was an old world class and gentlemanly attitude that has definitely passed on with them. Today's cricketers are thorough professionals, and some of the old amateur sportsmanship that is associated with Cricket in particular - the much abused Spirit of Cricket - is no more along with its last practitioner, Nawab Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.
The Holkars patronised early Indian greats like CK Nayudu, Mushtaq Ali and Chandu Sarwate. The Gaekwad kings of Baroda had a similar legacy, as did the Scindias of Gwalior. The Mysore royal family always considered Karnataka cricket its ancestral property until recently. The 2 princes of Jamnagar, Ranji and Duleep Singhji gave Indian cricket its earliest global exposure.
After independence there were at least 3 royals who continued their close involvement in Cricket - Madhav Rao Scindia as an able administrator and occasional if very keen club cricketer, Raj Singh Dungarpur, an able and talented first class Cricketer and one of the architects of the modern BCCI and the Indian team, and the great Nawab of Pataudi Junior, who played the game with distinction at the highest level. All 3 have now passed on, and with them has ended Indian cricket's association with its royal past.
There are no more princes, and though I am no romantic, there was an old world class and gentlemanly attitude that has definitely passed on with them. Today's cricketers are thorough professionals, and some of the old amateur sportsmanship that is associated with Cricket in particular - the much abused Spirit of Cricket - is no more along with its last practitioner, Nawab Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.
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