Saif Ali Khan’s father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was a living giant in the world of cricket with countless accolades and honours to his name. His cricketing genius was showcased right at an early age, as a result of which he was declared the captain of the Indian Cricket Team when he was barely 21.
However, his cricketing career was made to come to a halt when in 1961 he met with a car accident, that left his right eye damaged by a shard of glass from the windscreen. While doctors advised him not to pursue his passion of cricket as it had severely affected his vision, he continued to do so and chased his dreams with his one-eye vision itself. Thereafter, he created records in the cricketing world with his one-eyed focus and immense confidence.
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In a throwback interview with Sportskeeda, Mansoor Ali Khan’s son and the current Nawab of Pataudi, Saif Ali Khan reacted to popular cricketer, Geoffrey Boycott’s mean comment about his father, that really made him angry. Spilling beans on it, he mentioned how the latter speculated that his father, Mansoor Ali Khan apparently lied to the world about his affected vision, since he disbelieved any cricketer could play Test cricket with one eye. Recalling how he was disheartened and shocked to hear such words from one of his favourite cricketers about his dad, Saif mentioned:
“Boycott, who I really looked up to, made me really angry one day. He said, I heard about your father, it’s not possible to play Test cricket with one eye. I asked him if he thinks my father is lying, to which he replied, yes! I think he’s making it up."
Going further in the interview, the Tashan actor mentioned how his father got upset as well as immensely angry hearing the remark of Geoffrey Boycott about his playing tactics and revealed how for the first time, the latter reacted in a rather arrogant manner. Saif mentioned:
“I told my father that, and he got really annoyed. He said, ‘Well, I was bloody good with two eyes. I’m just good with one.’ That was the only arrogant remark I ever heard him make. If he didn’t want to tour, he would say he wasn’t available. He said it was a game and he was losing interest in the game in the ’60s because he thought there was too much cricket."
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While the accident could not get hold more of his brilliant cricketing career, nevertheless it made a deep impact in the life of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who was also fondly referred to as Tiger Pataudi. The late cricketer once spoke about the same in a show called Anmol Ratan and mentioned how just a small shard of glass damaged the lens of his right eye forever. In his words:
“The accident happened in Brighton. I was playing for Oxford against Sussex. It was the August weekend where there were three holidays. Brighton is a popular tourist destination and they happened opened two new roads for dual carriages. So there was a man who was new to the place and without looking, he came on to the main road. We were about four-five of us who had gone out for dinner after the game. Three of my mates decided they would walk home, and I sat on the front seat of the car next to the driver. So then the accident happened, the windscreen broke and a piece of the glass flew straight into my eye. The lens of my eye got destroyed."
In yet another of his old interviews, Tiger Pataudi had opened up about the challenges and difficulties he faced in his day-to-day life due to his damaged vision in one eye. Moreover, he also revealed how the impairment made a 50% impact on his game on the field, as now he could see double visions of the same thing, which resulted in disturbed alignment. In his words:
“The damage to my eye had a 50% impact on my game. I couldn’t do close-in fielding and even couldn’t throw the ball for a year since the accident had damaged my shoulder as well. My depth vision was affected. Since my eye had lost alignment, I used to see two versions of everything. As in if a car would be approaching me at night, I would see four headlights. If I would try to pour water into a glass, I would miss the glass. Or if I tried to light a cigarette, the flame would miss the tip. So I had to organise my life and learn how to live with it.”
What do you think about Saif Ali Khan reacting about comments regarding his father’s vision?
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