The England vs India Test series, earlier named the Pataudi Trophy, has been renamed the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. It was met with widespread criticism as the ECB decided not only to rename the trophy but also replace the legacy of legendary Indian player Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.
However, the ECB decided to name the trophy after the two greats from the two participating nations. This brought in Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson's legacy; however, this did not land well with the likes of former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and now Farokh Engineer.
To control the damage caused by the change of the trophy name, the ECB introduced the Pataudi medal to keep the Pataudi legacy intact, but not until Sachin Tendulkar himself and the BCCI stepped in to compensate the Pataudi supporters.
The England vs India series played in India was named the Pataudi Trophy back in 2007, when this marked 75 years of strong cricketing relations between the two great nations.
The name Pataudi had significance as it was praised by both Indian and English cricket fans as well as icons, since Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, a father-son duo, played and captained for India.
Both Iftikhar and Mansur played in the County Championship as well and were notable batters, while Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi had a great record on English soil. Back in the 1960s, Farokh Engineer also starred for Lancashire in the County Championship and grew to be a beloved figure in the competition.
"Well Tiger Pataudi was a great friend of mine. Great colleague of mine. We played a lot of Test cricket. Great heritage, great family. I was most happy when the trophy was named after him back in 2007. On one hand, I was very disappointed that the Pataudi name was removed," said Engineer as quoted by PTI.
"It (introducing Pataudi medal) was obviously an afterthought, they should have announced it in the beginning that would have more credibility but at least they have done something. Common sense has prevailed and hope the Pataudi name always remains," added the former Indian wicket-keeper batsman.
James Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar's greatness in Test Cricket
Both James Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar have often been called one of the greatest cricketers of all time from the nations of England and India, respectively.
James Anderson, often known as the greatest ever Test pacer in the world, was known as a master of swing bowling. In his illustrious career that spanned over 2 decades, Anderson went on to claim the third-most wickets in the history of Test cricket, as he picked 704 wickets, only behind Shane Warne and the great Muttiah Muralitharan.
Anderson is also the third-highest wicket-taker in the history of the game, as the bowler has 991 wickets. India was another favourite ground for Anderson, as he picked up the third-most, 44 wickets, in his Test career on Indian tracks.
Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar averaged the third-highest in his Test career in England, even more than in India. He has played in 17 matches in England, scoring 1575 runs at a glorious average of 54.31. Without a single duck, he has 4 hundreds in England, the second-most now levelled by Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant.
Sharmila Tagore and Saif Ali Khan should be invited, suggests Engineer to ECB
Engineer remarked that in order to honour the Pataudi legacy, the ECB should call in Mansur's wife Sharmila Tagore, and his son, Saif Ali Khan, to hand out the first-ever Pataudi medal after the conclusion of the India vs England Test series in 2025.
"The whole issue is debatable, but they have kept the name. I hope they invite Sharmila Tagore (Mansur's wife) and his son, Saif Ali Khan, to present the medal. Last series, they didn't do that. Fingers were pointed at the ECB for that. Hopefully, they give them due credit," remarked Farokh.
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