BCCI requests ECB to rethink over renaming Pataudi Trophy to Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has requested the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to rethink their renaming of the Pataudi Trophy to the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. While the BCCI claimed to have no role in changing the name, as the series will be played in England, they requested the hosts to preserve the legacy of India’s youngest Test captain – Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.

The Indian board has written a letter to the English board asking them to name the individual player award after Pataudi, whose name has been snubbed from the nomenclature of India’s Test series in England. A recent media report has suggested that the BCCI is trying to preserve the legacy of their former captain in any form.

“We have requested them to name one of the post-match trophies after Pataudi, and they will revert to us. It’s the ECB that decides on whom they want to name their series. The BCCI has no role in it as it’s their home series,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Controversy around renaming Pataudi Trophy

The controversy of renaming the trophy started when the ECB named the Test series between India and England on the latter’s soil, to honour the legacy of the leading wicket-taker in Tests among pacers James Anderson and the leading run-scorer in the longest format of the game – Sachin Tendulkar. The move received mixed opinions from fans and experts.

Sunil Gavaskar and a few members from the Pataudi family were against the move. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was one of India’s greatest Test captains. He became India’s Test captain at the age of 21, the youngest to date, and helped India to win their first overseas Test in New Zealand in 1967.

As per the reports, the ECB had informed MAK Pataudi’s son and Bollywood actor, Saif Ali Khan, about the renaming of the trophy. The BCCI claimed that the hosts of the series have every right to name the trophy as per their wish. However, their only request is to preserve the legacy of their former Test skipper in the best possible manner.