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New Delhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led India on Friday in paying tribute to the country’s charismatic former cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, who died aged 70 from lung disease.

“He was a dashing and daring captain, who brought a new confidence to the Indian cricket scene,” Singh said in a condolence message a day after his death.

“Even after his playing days were over, he remained an iconic figure, an embodiment of poise and polish and a great advocate of sportsmanship.”

Pataudi, nicknamed “The Tiger” for his superb fielding, played 46 tests between 1961 and 1975, scoring 2,793 runs at an average of 34.91 with six centuries despite losing his right eye in a car accident in England.

“Tiger Pataudi was the most charismatic cricketer of his generation,” said legendary former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar.

“To bat with almost zero vision in one eye and still to score nearly 3,000 runs and half-a-dozen centuries in test cricket tells you what a genius he was.”

There was no genuine pacemen at his disposal but shrewdly used the renowned spin quartet of Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan to put the opposition on the back foot.

“To my mind, Tiger Pataudi was the best thing that happened to Indian cricket from the time India got Test status. He was the first Indian captain to drill ‘Indian-ness’ into the Indian dressing-room,” said Bedi.

Sachin Tendulkar, the world’s leading run-getter in both test and one-day cricket, described Pataudi as a “hero” while prolific Indian batsman Rahul Dravid described him as an “inspiration.”

“It’s a terrible loss to the cricketing world. I had the privilege of meeting him on a few occasions. World cricket will miss a hero like him,” said Tendulkar.

Pataudi became India’s youngest captain at 21 during a tour of the West Indies in 1962 when the then skipper Nari Contractor was injured after being hit on the head.

He led India in 40 of his 46 Tests, winning nine and securing the country’s first series win abroad on the 1967-68 tour of New Zealand.

Agence France-Presse