Tiger Pataudi: The prince who came to play

When the newly named Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy is triumphantly raised at the end of the 5th Test between England and India, the winning captain will also have a piece of history in his pocket.

The inaugural Pataudi Medal of Excellence.

A family name of royal heritage symbolising the shared legacy and complex history between two nations.

The 8th Nawab of Pataudi, Iftikhar Ali Khan, played for both England and India in the 1930s and '40s, while his son Mansoor Ali Khan, known as Tiger, was one of India's greatest captains.

For the 18 years previous to the 2025 series, it was the Pataudi Trophy that both sides contested in England.

The change of name is dedicated to the remarkable more-recent achievements of Sir James Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar in Test cricket. Both greats in their own right.

But Tendulkar himself is at pains to point out the influence his predecessor had on Indian cricket and that his legacy should live on.

"Tiger Pataudi played a huge role in inspiring many generations and that should never be forgotten," he said.

'The idea of playing the game was to win'

With film star looks, charisma and a tactical approach that emboldened a nation, Tiger Pataudi is heralded for changing the mindset of Indian cricket after a period of transition.

In Tiger's words, the partition of India in 1947 and the end of British rule had left behind an "inferiority complex".

Speaking in 2009 he said: "We had been ruled for almost 200 years, then coming across them on the field, made a lot of Indians feel hesitant.

"Before I joined the team, the idea seemed to be let the five days pass somehow.

"But the idea of playing the game was to win."

Tiger's perspective on "playing to win" instilled a more aggressive and positive approach during the 1960s and '70s that fostered a sense of self-belief.

A faith placed in spinners to spearhead a bowling attack was an uncommon approach at the time.

As his country's youngest ever captain, aged 21, his influence was all the more remarkable given he played with vision in just one eye.

Tiger was just 11 years old when his father died of a heart attack.

The newly crowned 9th Nawab of Pataudi was sent to boarding school at Winchester College in Hampshire (UK).

It was within the 14th Century walls of an establishment that carries the motto "manners makyth man" that a young Pataudi found his identity through cricket.

With over 1,000 runs in a season Tiger had soon broken the school record, surpassing future England captain Douglas Jardine.

Former teammate Fred Heatley recounts how the young Indian prince fitted in.

"He didn't need to be dependent on what he'd inherited as he had so many skills himself, he regarded everyone as being equal to him.

"It was worn extremely lightly, but he wore it with authority."

Pataudi's sports master at Winchester College was former Sussex captain Hubert Doggart and he was coached by former leading Sussex batsman George Cox.

A connection that led to a debut for the county at just 16 years old and the beginning of a 13-year association with "Good Ol' Sussex By The Sea".

However, it was a summer's day of July 1961 in Hove that would tragically leave a lasting impact on Tiger.

Pataudi's education had swapped Winchester for Oxford University – Balliol College, to study Arabic and French.

On the cricket field, Tiger continued to dish out lessons of his own.

Having scored a century against rivals Cambridge on debut, by the summer he had racked up 1,216 runs and was on track to break the university record run total for a season - 1307 - which had been set by his own father.

But this would be a run chase that came to a sudden halt.

Following a match for Oxford at Sussex, Pataudi was involved in a car crash.

A shard of glass from the smashed windscreen threatened to shatter the dreams of a young cricketer now blinded in his right eye.

As Jon Filby from the Sussex Cricket Museum explains, Pataudi had the option to walk home from a restaurant that was quite close to his hotel but instead jumped in a car with Oxford University teammate Robin Waters.

As they turned onto the seafront road a car drove into them, It was an awful accident that had huge ramifications for him.

Who's to know how great he would have been?

While many feared this would end Tiger's cricket career, remarkably, he was soon back in the nets.

Defiantly adapting his batting skills – re-learning the game he loved, as BBC Cricket commentator Prakash Wakankar explains.

"Tiger chose to pick the right image of the inside of the two balls he saw when he played.

"To be able to go on and get a hundred so soon after his injury – well, his legend started to grow."

Despite his eye injury, less than six months later Tiger made his Test debut versus England – aged 20.

He scored 103 in just 2.5 hours in the 5th Test in Madras, helping India to its first series win against England.

Three months later, Pataudi was made captain. India's youngest – a feat still to be surpassed.

India's first double-century against England (Delhi,1964) and a glorious 148 (Headingly, 1967) are stand-out moments.

As was becoming the first captain to lead India to an overseas tour win, in New Zealand.

But it was Pataudi's influence on the mindset of his team and the ability to unify a cricketing nation for which he is most remembered.

"Tiger was the first Indian captain who gave us the feeling of Indianness, "according to the late Indian spinner Bishan Bedi, speaking in 2009.

"Not playing for Delhi, or for Bombay, Madras or Calcutta… you're playing for India. Think India."

Pataudi captained his country 40 times, before retiring in 1975.

Aged 70, Pataudi died on the 25 August 2011 after battling lung disease.

More recently, the Pataudi family's dynasty is synonymous with the bright lights of Bollywood -with his son, Saif Ali Khan, one of India's leading actors.

But it is a legacy built on sporting brilliance and defiance.

When the first ever Pataudi medal of excellence is handed to the winning captain in 2025, it is a time to reflect on the influence and impact felt in the past.

Tiger Pataudi was the prince who came to play.