A writer, a cricketer and a friendship that lasted nearly 50 years

Hyderabad: The friendship between the well-known writer Jeffrey Archer and former India captain, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, was one of those unusual relationships that began in the privileged surroundings of Oxford and survived for nearly half a century. Archer, who died on October 5, aged 86, had a deep affection for his old Oxford friend till his last breath.

Their association began in the early 1960s when the young Nawab of Pataudi was at Oxford. Archer later recalled that he first met Pataudi through mutual friends and was immediately struck not only by his cricketing talent but by his likeable personality. Archer remembered that Pataudi, who had two nicknames – Pat and Tiger – had an unusual ability to treat everybody as an equal. Even as a young man, he possessed what Archer regarded as the qualities of a traditional, well-mannered gentleman. Pataudi was gracious, generous and warm-hearted with everyone he met.

There was, of course, plenty of cricket and sport that drew the two of them close together. While Pataudi’s cricketing skills were famous, donning the cap of the Oxford University cricket team, Archer’s love was track and field. Archer went on to earn an Oxford Blue as a hurdler and sprinter. A Blue (referring to the blue blazer of the university that is awarded for excellence in sport) is the highest honour that one can earn at Oxford and Cambridge universities.

At Oxford, Pataudi was already making a name for himself as a remarkably gifted batsman and cricketer while Archer was not only a good athlete but was also a big cricket fan. At that time, the author was developing an extraordinary fascination with cricket that would remain with him throughout his life. Archer followed Pataudi’s university cricket closely and became an admirer not only of his batting but also of his leadership qualities as university captain.

Archer wrote a story based on Pataudi

The friendship acquired a literary dimension many years later. Archer wrote a short story, “The Century,” in which the central character was unmistakably inspired by the young Pataudi. It was one of the stories in a collection titled A Quiver Full of Arrows, published in 1980. Archer acknowledged that the inspiration came from Pataudi’s college days, the accomplishments of his father, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, and the famous Oxford-Cambridge cricket rivalry.

His intention was to portray a sportsman who was a generous winner and a gracious loser. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the story was that Archer sketched out Pataudi’s character rather than merely his cricketing accomplishments.

Pataudi’s horrendous car accident in 1961 had left him blind in one eye, yet he returned to cricket and went on to captain India. Archer remained fascinated by the young man’s determination and regarded him as one of the last representatives of an old-fashioned amateur sporting ideal. To Archer, he was an aristocrat who played for the love of sport and had no financial gains in his mind.

Both carved out successful careers in different fields

Their friendship continued long after their Oxford days. Pataudi became India’s youngest Test captain and one of the most influential figures in the country’s cricket history, while Archer became one of Britain’s most successful popular novelists. Their careers took them in totally different directions, but cricket remained a common language between the two of them.

After Pataudi died in 2011, Archer wrote one of the most affectionate tributes to him. He described Pataudi simply as “my friend and a legend of the game.” He remembered how, whenever he went to the Lord’s and The Oval cricket grounds, he could take Pataudi’s company for granted.

Archer also paid tribute to Pataudi’s leadership. He believed that the former India captain had changed the country’s cricketing outlook, particularly through his emphasis on fielding and the importance of spin. More importantly, Archer admired the fact that Pataudi placed the team above himself. In an interview with the ICC, he recalled Pataudi as a charming, graceful man for whom the ideology of cricket and the interests of his own team mattered more to him than his own career.

Soha Ali Khan paid tribute to Archer

The affection was clearly mutual and extended to the Pataudi family. After Archer’s death, Pataudi’s daughter Soha Ali Khan paid a heartfelt tribute on social media in which she recalled that her father and Jeffery Archer had been fast friends for many years. Soha mentioned that the British author had acted as an auctioneer when the Pataudi family wanted to auction some of its memorabilia.

There is something particularly apt about their friendship. Archer was a storyteller who loved cricket, and Pataudi was a cricketer whose life was a fascinating story.

Not many people have a life as colourful as Mansur Ali Khan. He was a young Nawab, a brilliant Oxford sportsman who lost sight in one eye but refused to abandon cricket, and eventually became India’s captain and an icon of Indian sport. For Archer, however, Pataudi was more than a sporting hero. He was an old friend whose company he had always cherished. And now the two friends are together again in heaven.