Tiger Pataudi in critical condition

New Delhi: Former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who was admitted to a prominent hospital in New Delhi following lung infection, has been shifted to the ICU after doctors found him to be critically ill last evening.

Mansur Ali Khan continues to remain critically ill in the ICU. He is on very high level of oxygen support requiring intermittent BIPAP. He is conscious and his cardiac function remains stable. He is being monitored very closely, a hospital bulletin said. He is being observed closely by a team of pulmonologists and critical care specialists, it said. 70-year-old Pataudi, who is undergoing treatment at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, was admitted in August end and has been diagnosed with interstitial lung disease, a condition in which the passage of oxygen to the two lungs is less than normal. He is suffering from a disease which does not have proper or permanent cure. It takes time. The patient in such cases breathes out more of carbon dioxide, a doctor with the hospital said. Sources said Pataudi’s son actor Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor visited the ailing former cricketer at the hospital. Pataudi, regarded as one of the finest Indian captains, played 46 Tests for the country, scoring 2793 runs for an average of 34.91 with an unbeaten 203 being his highest score. In all, he smashed six centuries and 16 fifties in his career. PTI