da betway： As the reporters sit despondently in the press box on the morning of the second day of the Mohali Test, gazing out at the drizzle, IS Bindra, the chief of the Punjab Cricket Association, walks in.
Roving Reporter by Amit Varma09-Mar-2005
Mansur Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi, was quite a looker himself© The Cricketer International
As the reporters sit despondently in the press box on the morning ofthe second day of the Mohali Test, gazing out at the drizzle, ISBindra, the chief of the Punjab Cricket Association, walks in.”Begum Pataudi is addressing a press conference soon,” he announces.Begum Pataudi? It must be Baig and Pataudi, I tell myself. Abbas AliBaig and Tiger Pataudi must be here, and are meeting the press. Thatdoesn’t sound too bad. Nostalgic questions can be asked about oldseries. I rise up in satisfaction, walk down to the hall where the press conferences take place, and Sharmila Tagore walks in.Tagore is the immaculately pedigreed lady – her grandfather was theNobel laureate Rabindranath – who has acted for Satyajit Ray and withRajesh Khanna, though never in the same film. To top it all, she thengot married to Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, also known as Tiger, as if hewas a balm. Cricket and Bollywood, thus, were married long before. She went on to have children who became actors, and isnow the chairman of the censor board of India. If she doesn’t like a scene ina new film, she says “snip”, and negatives fall to the floor, wherethey roll raunchily.She talks about both films and cricket. Or rather, about censorshipand cricket. “You have to pay importance to regional sensibilities,”she says. “Every culture is different.” Phrases like “commodificationof women” slip out fluidly, and she talks of “seminars on obscenity”.She says that “obscenity” had increased in recent years, but alsoadmits that so has the status of women in India. “They [women inIndia] have more money,” she says, “but emancipation must beaccompanied by responsibility.”Then we move to the cricket, and, to, inevitably, her husband. She isasked about the qualities that made him such a fine leader, and shereplies: “He is a patient man. He is non-biased, in the sense that henever has a predetermined view towards anything. He listens toeveryone, and is quick to get to the essence of a problem. That giveshim credibility, and people trust him.”She is a lady who likes her cricket, “especially the five-day game”.So when was the first time she saw Pataudi play? “Against WestIndies,” she says, “but I was a fan of [ML] Jaisimha.” She smiles.Jaisimha, of course, is considered by many to be the best captainIndia never had, and this is the wife of the man who captained in hisstead. Poignant.She departs after revealing that Rahul Dravid is her favourite currentIndian cricketer. She refuses to comment on who the “best-looking” oneis. As IS Bindra thanks the press for attending, he informs us: “Shehas bowled all of you over.” We nod appreciatively.After I return to the press box, a colleague who had remained thereasks me, “So how was Abbas Ali Baig?””Nice,” I reply. “But he was much prettier when he was young.”