The decision of England and Wales Cricket Board retire the Pataudi Trophy and England vs India to change the name of the series to Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in the five-match Test has received mixed response. According to The Indian Express, to keep the legacy of former India captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi alive, the BCCI has now requested the ECB to put one of his names on Pataudi for personal performance in the Test series. The board has said that it has no hand in changing the name of the trophy.
Let us know that, ECB has decided to shut down the Pataudi Trophy this year. Instead, the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has been announced to be the modern trend of name of the series after the name of former players. In recent times, the ECB has changed the name of the Wisdon Trophy established in 1963 with the Cricket West Indies to the Residents-Batham Trophy from 2020 which is played between the two teams in honor of two great players Viv Richards and Ian Botham.
Currently, the bilateral series between England and New Zealand is for the Crow-Thorp Trophy named after Martin Crow and Graham Thorpe. The naming of the bilateral series in the name of the players has already been running. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been being played between India and Australia since 1996. This is a very prestigious trophy. In such a situation, the decision to change the name of Pataudi Trophy is also on the same lines.
At the same time, the BCCI official quoted The Indian Express said that, the ECB decides who they want to name their series. The BCCI has no role in this because it is their home series. We have requested them to name one of the post match trophy on Pataudi and they will reply to us.
Significantly, earlier this year, ECB had decided to remove Pataudi’s name without giving any official reason. However, he informed Tiger Pataudi’s son and well -known actor Saif Ali Khan in April this year. The five-match Test series between India and England will begin in Headingley in Leeds from 20 June.