He never got the adulation he deserved during his lifetime: Saif Ali Khan opens up about Tiger Pataudi

Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan spoke about the father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi's attitude towards the game, and also shared the details of his lifestyle as a cricketer in an exclusive chat.

In a live chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda Cricket's Facebook page, Saif Ali Khan talked about modern-day cricket, plus he compared it with the era of Tiger Pataudi.

Saif mentioned that he prefers to watch Test matches from the 70s, and not ODIs or T20 matches. He also said that Tiger Pataudi never received the adulation that he deserved during his lifetime.

'There's too much cricket': Saif Ali Khan reveals the time Tiger Pataudi started losing interest in the game

Saif Ali Khan talked about Tiger Pataudi's lifestyle in detail

Saif Ali Khan stated that he enjoyed watching Test matches from the '70s and described it as the magical era of cricket.

When asked if the modern version of the sport has become too success-driven, Saif compared the current situation with Tiger Pataudi's time and replied:

"It was always on his terms. I have seen him give interviews, and he was such a cool kind of strong personality that you couldn't really tell him what to do."

The B-Town resident then talked about the adulation that his father deserved but never got when he was alive.

"He really built that team. Ajit Wadekar, rest in peace, benefited from by taking them to beat the West Indies and beat team England were incredible feats. That team was really formed by Tiger Pataudi, but he never got the adulation that was required. He got the adulation after he died."

"I have never heard or seen an outpouring of respect and love internationally that is still continuing in some way. My wife was shocked. I don't think anybody from the movie industry or anybody in the cricket world today, if God forbid, one of our big stars also passed away; we would never see that kind of outpour internationally," he continued.

Later, Saif Ali Khan recalled how the cricket board offered him to lead the team against West Indies in 1974-75 during the last part of his career.

The officials asked him to captain the Indian cricket team in the first two games, but Tiger Pataudi clarified that he would either lead in all matches or not play the series.

Also, Khan revealed that Tiger declined to go on foreign tours as he started losing interest in the sport and felt that 'there was too much cricket.' Saif concluded by saying that Tiger would love to play bridge and go for 'shikaar' instead of focusing on cricket all the time.