"Discarding the Pataudi Trophy entirely feels unnecessary"

The renaming of the England vs India Test series trophy to the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has not gone down well with former players and some members of famous cricketing families.

Previously, whenever the England vs India series was contested in England, the two teams played for the Pataudi Trophy, named after India’s illustrious captains, Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and his son Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi. The recent renaming of the Pataudi Trophy though has drawn some serious criticism.

Saad Bin Jung, Yajurvindra Singh and Venkatpathy Raju

‘You’ve lost all respect’

Saad Bin Jung, former first-class cricketer and a scion of the Pataudi lineage, expressed his dismay. “It’s baffling to see a cricketer permitting a trophy to be taken away from a former Indian Test captain and renamed in his own honour. This reflects a total disregard for the cricketing community and his seniors in the game. It speaks volumes about how far people are willing to go for recognition — any form of fame, even if it means overshadowing those who led Indian cricket before them. In doing so, you’ve lost all respect in my eyes and in the eyes of the entire cricket fraternity,” said Saad, the grandson of Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and nephew of Tiger Pataudi.

His sentiments were echoed by former India cricketer Yajurvindra Singh, who played four Tests in the 1980s. “It is ridiculous to retire the Pataudi Trophy. Tiger, to me, was one of the greatest Indian cricketers to play the game. He led India for over a decade and played with one eye — that’s greatness personified! I can’t imagine a single international cricketer performing the way he did at the highest level. Milburn, Ranji, and many others tried and failed. The BCCI should have stepped in before the proposal came from the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB],” said Yajurvindra.

An unnecessary call

Venkatpathy Raju, the former Indian spinner with 81 international appearances, felt that instead of renaming the Test series trophy, the Anderson-Tendulkar label could have been attached to an ODI or T20I series given the outstanding records of both these players in limited-overs cricket. “Sachin Tendulkar is the highest run-scorer and Anderson the highest wicket-taker [against India], so maybe that was the reasoning behind this decision, but discarding the Pataudi Trophy entirely feels unnecessary,” said Raju, who is also a former national selector and was part of the Indian team which won the Anthony de Mello Trophy through their 3-0 triumph over England at home in 1992-93. India vs England Test series on Indian soil were played for the De Mello Trophy, named after the BCCI’s first secretary and president. However, the board hasn’t been giving much importance to this trophy in recent years.

Many, within the cricket community, are urging the authorities to reconsider the renaming of the Pataudi Trophy, arguing that its historical significance deserves preservation, just like the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which is the hallmark of India vs Australia Test contests.

Time will tell if these voices of former players and cricket’s aficionados will be heard or if the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy is here to stay. 

This article first appeared on Mid Day