Gavaskar calls Pataudi Trophy renaming after Tendulkar and Anderson ‘disturbing’

Sunil Gavaskar was critical of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s reported decision to rename the Pataudi Trophy after Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson.

The five-match Test series that will go on from June 20 to August 4.

Tendulkar is highest run-scorer in Tests with 15,921. The 52-year-played 200 Tests for India between 1989 and 2013. Anderson is England’s leading wicket-taker in Tests and the most successful pacer in the longest format with 704 wickets. He retired in 2024.

The trophy was initially named after the Pataudi family for their contribution to the game. The trophy for the same series played in India was named after the administrator, Anthony de Mello. It remains to be seen if the Anthony de Mello Trophy will be renamed too.

The news did not go down well with Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi’s contemporary Gavaskar.

In his column for Sportstar- On the Write LineGavaskar called the development ‘disturbing.’

“The recent news that the ECB is going to retire the Pataudi Trophy, given to the winners of the Test series between England and India in England, is disturbing indeed. This is the first time one has heard of a trophy named after individual players being retired, though the decision is entirely the ECB’s, and the BCCI may well have been informed. It shows a total lack of sensitivity to the contribution made by the Pataudis to cricket in both England and India.”

“There may well be a new trophy named after more recent players, and here’s hoping that if an Indian player has been approached, he will have the good sense to politely decline — not only out of respect for two former India captains but also to avoid the same fate of having a trophy named after him retired after he is gone.”

“The ECB is fully entitled to name the trophy after one of their own players, but I, along with loads of Indian cricket supporters, fervently hope that any other Indian cricketer will have the smarts to decline, lest history repeats itself as it has with the Pataudi Trophy.”