Saif Ali Khan recently remembered his father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi — known as Tiger Pataudi — at the Tiger Pataudi Memorial Lecture 2026 in Kolkata. At the event, Saif reflected on his father’s legacy, passion for cricket, and his reserved nature that at times “irked” his mother, Sharmila Tagore. He was joined by seasoned English commentator Sir Ian Botham.
Saif recalled that Tiger Pataudi rarely spoke about his cricket milestones at home. He was a man of few words, but confident in his achievements.
“At home, he rarely spoke about achievements. He rarely spoke about anything. My mother would be exasperated at dinners and get-togethers with people less informed than him, who would be giving their opinion. He would say no one asked me, but he wouldn’t speak, because no one asked him. It was a very different brand of confidence,” said Saif.
However, Saif said Tiger Pataudi believed in instilling self-belief in other players.
“He believed in belief — instilling self-belief in Indian players who had never before been told they could dominate world cricket. At a time when Indian teams were expected merely to participate, he insisted they compete to win. And that massive change of mindset, I think, was one of his great contributions.”
For the world, Tiger Pataudi was “a dashing and courageous batsman, one of the world’s best fielders, and one of India’s greatest captains who changed the way we played cricket.”
For Saif, Tiger Pataudi was his Abba, who lived and breathed cricket all his life.
“I knew him respectfully as Abba, a man of very few words who somehow said everything that mattered. Growing up, cricket was everywhere in our home. Everyone played — drivers, staff, family, cousins, gardeners. Cricket was always a great equaliser and taught us to respect people from an early age,” Saif said.
He concluded the speech by saying, “If my father were here this evening, he would probably be slightly embarrassed by all this attention and then quietly pleased that the conversation remained about cricket, ideas, and the future. So on behalf of our family, thank you for remembering him not as a figure from the past, but as a continuing presence in the spirit of the game.”
Tiger Pataudi died in September 2011 in New Delhi. In terms of work, Saif Ali Khan was last seen in the Netflix film Kartavya.
