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England holds a special place in Sachin Tendulkar’s heart. As a 14-year-old, he travelled to England for the first time with Kailash Gattani’s Star Cricket Club. A couple of years later, as a young sensation, he went on to score his maiden Test century for India at the Old Trafford.
And, now he also has a trophy named after him. When India and England face off for the five-match Test series, beginning in Leeds on Friday, they will be hoping to clinch the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy.
While there has been much talk about renaming the Pataudi Trophy to the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy, the former India captain has remained silent so far. But in a chat with Sportstar on Thursday, Tendulkar made it clear that he reached out to the Pataudi family soon after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to rename the trophy, and also took all efforts to ensure that the Pataudi legacy lives on. And, it was on his insistence, the ECB has now decided to introduce a Pataudi medal to be awarded to the winning captain after the series.
What does it mean to you personally that the England versus India trophy has been jointly named after you?
Well, it means a lot. There were many firsts which happened in England. The first flight of my life was to England in 1988, with Star Cricket Club; then the first international hundred in 1990. The first time any non-Yorkshire cricketer was picked to play for the county was in 1992. A lot of things happened in England for me.
Also, in my personal life, marrying Anjali — Anjali’s mother (Annabel) is from England, so a lot of important things happened in my life at that time. When it comes to England, I think it has played a big role in shaping me as a cricketer. That exposure at the right time in my career was so important, and allowed me to think about the game differently and gave me a lot of exposure to the conditions I was not familiar with.
Playing in Headingley (for Yorkshire) was a different experience altogether, and I loved it. I loved it more because of the kind of support that I got, the way people received me, even off the field, wherever I went and the county team also, the committee members… Everyone was supportive. Overall, the environment was very friendly and I enjoyed being there.
There have been voices of dissent or objections raised to the move to rename the trophy. How do you react to that?
When it comes to other people voicing opinions, it’s their call. But if I have to put my side across, then when the trophy was retired, which was way earlier and the decision was taken by the ECB and BCCI. Later, after a couple of months, when I was informed that the trophy is going to be named after me and Anderson, it came as a pleasant surprise to me.
I was also told that this is a completely new trophy, and that it has nothing to do with the earlier Pataudi Trophy. To me, it was a recognition of our contribution to our respective nations in Test cricket, so it did feel nice.
The first phone call that I made after knowing this was to the Pataudi family. I spoke to them and also spoke about keeping the Pataudi legacy alive.
I told them that, ‘I have always respected my seniors and I’ll do everything possible to keep the legacy alive. Just give me some time and I’ll come back to you.’
After that, I called Mr. Jay Shah (ICC chair), the BCCI and the ECB, and we shared some ideas and a few phone calls were made after that. We unanimously agreed, and very graciously, Mr. Jay Shah, the BCCI and ECB agreed to introduce this Pataudi Medal of Excellence, which will be given to the winning captain.
It’s a good match because he (Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi) was known for his leadership. And we felt that this would keep the legacy alive because they had already retired the trophy.
But several people have voiced their opinions on the issue…
It’s only their opinion, without knowing the facts. I don’t want to get into that because I don’t think any one of them knew what I was doing. So I would leave it to them to say whatever they have to say. I don’t need to respond to that.
You also insisted that there should be no celebration against the backdrop of the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad…
It should not be compared to anything… The tragedy that happened was….. I fall short of words to express what I feel. It wasn’t something that one would want to ever hear about. We were to have a big opening for this, the launch of the trophy, and we didn’t want to because we were not in the frame of mind to do it. We just didn’t want to celebrate.
For a team in transition in India, what will be your advice to the batters who will be touring England for the first or second time?
When it comes to playing in England, the most important thing is to understand the length of the ball. Of course, people keep talking about the line, but it is equally important to pick the length of the ball. Your front-foot defence becomes the most critical factor. When you are playing with the vertical bat, your hands should be close to your body.
With the horizontal bat, you can afford to let your hands go away from the body, but not with the vertical bat. Most of the dismissals take place off the front foot, unless you have an obvious weakness against the short-pitched ball. If your hands are close to your body, then you are in control most of the time. While leaving the ball, if your hands are close to your body, you pick the line also much better, but when the hands start moving away from the body, your head also goes out of position.
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All these elements force you to play the ball, and if your hands are closer to your body, then one is much better off staying side-on, as we call it. So, staying side-on and having a positive intent backed by a good front-foot defence is what I would expect because, having played in Indian conditions, the tendency is to hit the ball first, and if it’s good, then I’ll defend.
But in England, you have to respect the conditions as well. If the ball is not in the areas where you can attack, then you need to give it respect and defend. Defending doesn’t mean that you are being overcautious and defensive; you are respecting the conditions and respecting the length.
How do you see Shubman Gill coping with the pressure of starting his captaincy stint with a five-Test series in England and the importance of him not forgetting his primary role as a batter?
As far as the captaincy role is concerned, he has to understand that there will be opinions – some positive, some negative. Some will think that he is being attacking, and some will think that he is being defensive. He need not worry about those opinions.
He needs to worry about what has been discussed in the dressing room, and as a team and as a leader, is he executing those plans in the interest of the team or not? Whatever has been planned in the dressing room, are they going in that direction or not?
There have been opinions in the past too, but the game goes on. You have to continue giving your best focus on what you need to do, and that is what my advice to him would be.
As far as batting at No.4 is concerned, there will be various situations that he’ll encounter. He is a talented batsman, and it’s always a joy to watch players succeed. I hope that he is also one of those we say years down the line, ‘what a great contribution to Indian cricket!’ I am looking forward to that – him being a successful captain and a successful player for India.
With the uncertainty surrounding Jasprit Bumrah’s availability, what will be your advice to a relatively inexperienced pace bowling attack?
Look, Bumrah is the best person to figure out what is happening with his body and along with him, the team management, the physio, the trainer, everyone will get together and they’ll figure it out. Coach Gautam (Gambhir) is also there, Laxman (VVS, Head of Cricket, BCCI Centre of Excellence) has been there for a while — so all these guys have been around long enough to understand what is good for the team and they will take calls in the interest of the team.
As far as the other bowlers are concerned, if Bumrah is not playing, it’s going to boil down to bowling together as a unit. They cannot bowl as individuals. So, how do you plan to bowl against England as a bowling unit, in partnerships? That is what is going to matter. If individuals just turn up and do their bit, that’s not going to work. That’s why I say that the dressing room planning, the captain telling them certain things to do, the coach advising them, “Okay, these are the areas you should focus on”. All those elements will have to come together, and then the team has to play together as a single solid unit. If they can do that and execute their plans in partnership, then the bowling unit will become formidable.
One will have to just play disciplined cricket. You can’t disperse and go in your direction because that is what invariably happens when the team is not doing well. But you need someone to bring them back together. In tough moments, these kinds of things happen to the best of teams as well. This team is not an exception to that. It could happen to anyone, but it is each other’s responsibility to stick together. Because collectively it will be a formidable force is what I feel.
Thanks a lot, Sachin. Hopefully we will see you handing the trophy to Shubman at the end of the series…
(Laughs) Hopefully, yes, and bring the medal back to where it belongs!
