John Lord, in his book "The Maharajahs," recalls: 

The greatest match of all, the Thermopylae of Polo, was played at Delhi in early 1922 during the Prince of Wales's tour. It was the final of the Ratlam Cup between Jodhpur and Patiala, or to put it another way, between Rajputs and Sikhs, or yet another way, between Sir Pratap Singh of Jodhpur and Sir Bhupendra Singh of Patiala. No one had been able to defeat the Patiala team in a decade, but the Jodhpur team was at its peak and would be playing under the watchful eyes of old Sir Pratap. Among the crowd were fifty leading princes and perhaps two hundred lesser ones, all observing Sir Bhupinder Singh and Sir Pratap. Jodhpur emerged victorious after an intense struggle.

Sir Bhupinder Singh of Patiala set his horses free in the crowded by-lanes of the capital and instructed his team

to burn their sticks. They never stepped onto the field again.

*WEBMASTER*