Soha Ali Khan recently expressed her disappointment over reports suggesting that the BCCI is considering to shelve the Pataudi Trophy — a prestigious award named in honour of her late father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Known as Tiger Pataudi, he was considered to be one of the best fielders in the world. In 1975, he retired from international cricket and passed away in 2011. Now, in an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Soha fondly recalls memories of her dad, who wanted her to become ‘a fast bowler’ had she been a boy. While Soha always knew how popular a cricketer he was, it was after his death that she truly understood the extraordinary impact he left behind. “He was retired by the time I was born. I was born in 1978. When I was growing up, he was at home and my mother was the one going out to work. But I was aware and when he passed away, a lot of people reached out to me with incredible stories of how much he had achieved,” she tells us. However, there’s one match she vividly remembers. “I do remember watching him play one father-son cricket match with a bunch of 13-year-olds. He was a 350 not-out in that match. At some point, someone told him that he should get out because he was playing with children (laughs). But he adamantly said, ‘No, I’m going to keep playing’. He kept hitting six after six after six. He was really competitive,” exclaims the Chhorii 2 actor. And while she never learnt cricket, Soha believes that she’s pretty good at the sport. “I never trained in batting or bowling but my hand-eye coordination is excellent. I’m also a very good fielder. And I do enjoy sports even today. I play a lot of badminton, aggressively, and I enjoy it. All of us in our family like being fit and independent and so much independence comes from being physically strong and not leaning on anyone else,” she shares. Soha, in fact, doesn’t recount her father being strict. And that’s what gave her the courage to fail. “My mother was the strict one. But neither she nor my dad was academically oriented. They cared very much that I do well in school, focus and wanted me to pursue tertiary education as well but they weren’t the kind of parents to get upset over a report card not being all about As. I was the one who used to be more upset about it. They always wanted me to do what makes me happy and find what I’m good at,” she says. Referring to her upbringing as an ‘unusual one’, Soha adds, “They came from artistic backgrounds. They didn’t have any formal education. My mother didn’t go to university. My father was playing cricket. But there was no pressure to succeed despite them being super achievers. They wore their fame and successes very lightly. Thank god, there was never any pressure to match up to that! As a result, I could feel free and explore, make mistakes and find my way somewhere in the middle without feeling the need to be number one.”