Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi

The eighth and ninth Nawabs of Pataudi made significant contributions to the game

Starting with Douglas Jardine, it is an impressive list

Wadekar was appointed to the role of India captain on a whim, and rewarded the faith placed in him with two iconic series wins

It was the last tour by undivided India to Britain. It was the summer of Merchant and Mankad, and independence was around the corner

Virat Kohli has joined a small group of cricketers who have married celebrities in other fields

The team's evolution over the decades has led to today's formidable and combative unit that has reached the upper echelons of the sport

Playing alongside the likes of Pataudi, Abid Ali, Jaisimha and Abbas Ali Baig was an experience to be cherished

Pataudi Jr caught a young English fan's fancy for his princely ways and his heroic batting

What sort of interminable arguments have you had with your friends and relatives about cricketers?

Otherwise good batsmen who had unaccountable dips in form when they moved to a different spot in the batting order

Steve Waugh, Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, MAK Pataudi: some of cricket's finest captains speak about their craft

Twenty-two essays delve into the legacy of one of Indian cricket's most significant figures

Chandu Borde played Gilchrist and Griffith without a helmet and padding and has lived to tell the tale

We all like making XIs. World XIs, Entertainers' XI, Left-Handed Stonewallers' XI, Englishmen Who Disdain The Royalty XI (okay, scratch the last one)

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has called for balanced pitches to make sure Test cricket remains the prime format of the game

Sharmila Tagore, the widow of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, asked the BCCI to name India-England series as the Pataudi trophy but the board said the series is already played for the Anthony de Mello Cup

Pataudi was a legend when he started. His pedigree, flair, and epic disregard for his handicap, spoke to the anxieties and aspirations of a young India and to its hunger for heroes

Aloof yet witty, plain but direct, regal yet casual. MAK Pataudi was so many contradictory things that eventually you stopped trying to classify him

A selection of tributes to former India captain MAK Pataudi