Tiger Pataudi can arguably be the most effective factor that occurred to Indian cricket. A reputation that turned synonymous with the instilling of nationwide pleasure and unity within the sport, which till the Tiger’s entrance, was dominated by India’s colonisers, England.
However the very title that scripted historical past is now on the centre of controversy, with Sharmila Tagore, cricketing icons Sunil Gavaskar, and Harsha Bhogle weighing in.
Pataudi Trophy renamed
Earlier this month, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) collectively introduced that the Pataudi Trophy would now be referred to as the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy.
The ECB and BCCI have cited the achievements of Tendulkar and Anderson as trendy legends of the sport, aiming to make the rivalry extra relatable to youthful followers and to mirror the development of naming sequence after modern icons.
The names — Anderson, who retired in July 2024 after a file 188 Checks and 704 wickets, and Tendulkar, who bowed out in 2013 after 200 Checks and 15,921 runs — are each broadly thought to be legends of the fashionable recreation.
What’s the Pataudi Trophy?
The Pataudi Trophy was established in 2007 to mark the seventy fifth anniversary of India’s maiden Check sequence in England. It honoured the exceptional legacy of the Pataudi household—notably Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the one cricketer to characterize each England and India in Check matches, and his son, Mansoor Ali Khan “Tiger” Pataudi.
What’s in a reputation — why it issues
The ‘Pataudi Trophy’ was by no means nearly silverware—it was a tribute to cricket’s complicated colonial inheritance. Named after Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the one man to play Checks for each England and India, it honoured a legacy of defiance and dignity.
Seasoned cricket broadcaster Harsha Bhogle took to X to mirror that though Tendulkar and Anderson are legends, the Pataudi title “misses the deep join that Pataudi had with our nations”.
He added: “Each father and son performed for Sussex, Sr performed for each England and India, Jr set schoolboy batting information in England. There was a really good ring to the Pataudi Trophy.”
The identical trophy, which now has a brand new title, was historically awarded to the winner of India’s Check excursions of England, whereas in India, the corresponding sequence has lengthy been performed for the Anthony de Mello Trophy, named after one of many BCCI’s founding architects.
Greater than mere tokenism, the nomenclature honoured a person whose legacy ran deeper than the scoreboard. Throughout the infamous Bodyline sequence of 1932-33, he defied his captain, Douglas Jardine, by refusing to area on the leg-side—a stance of integrity that value him his place within the crew. In him, the complicated, post-colonial cricketing bond between the 2 nations discovered a becoming emblem.
Renaming sends ripples in cricketing world
The renaming drew sharp backlash, from the late Tiger Pataudi’s spouse Sharmila Tagore to his daughter Soha Ali Khan and cricket veteran Sunil Gavaskar.
Sharmila Tagore referred to as the renaming insensitive and stated the household wasn’t consulted. “Whether or not the BCCI desires to protect Tiger’s legacy is for them to determine,” she stated in an interview with Hindustan Instances.
In his column in Sportstar, Sunil Gavaskar stated the transfer was “disturbing certainly”, and argued that “that is the primary time one has heard of a trophy named after particular person gamers being retired, although the choice is fully the ECB’s, and the BCCI could nicely have been knowledgeable.”
The Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy
The newly named trophy is about to be unveiled at Lord’s throughout the World Check Championship remaining, which begins on June 11.
