Geoff Boycott refused to believe that MAK Pataudi, one of India’s most charismatic captains, played Test cricket despite being visually impaired, according to Pataudi’s son, Saif Ali Khan.
Saif Ali Khan, a Bollywood actor, while in conversation with Sportskeeda, revealed how both Pataudi and his son were annoyed with Boycott, who felt that the late cricketer was ‘making up’ his eye injury.
“[Geoff] Boycott, who I really looked up to, made me really angry one day,” Saif said. “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.’
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“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.”
Pataudi, who passed away in 2011, represented India in 46 Tests from 1961 to 1975, captaining the side in 40 of those matches. In 1961, Pataudi was involved in a car accident in Brighton and suffered vision impairment after the lens in his right eye was destroyed by a shattered windshield. Six months later, he made his India debut.
Saif further revealed how Pataudi “lived on his terms”, and started declining foreign tours with the team as he felt there was “too much cricket” in the Sixties.
“If he didn’t want to tour, he would say he wasn’t available,” Saif said. “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. He knew how we wanted to live. He was from a different era, and I admire that he didn’t take any s**t.”
