It was recently decided by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that the Pataudi Trophy will be rebranded to the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy. Earlier, whenever a Test series was played between the two teams in England, it was played for the Pataudi Trophy, but the ECB had previously decided to retire the name.
Tendulkar wants the legacy of the Pataudi Trophy to continue
However, according to a report by Cricbuzz, Sachin Tendulkar has taken matters into his own hands and has asked both ECB and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to have a change of heart and continue the legacy of the Pataudi Trophy.
The report further stated that International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairman Jay Shah has also played a pivotal role in ensuring that the Pataudi legacy doesn't get replaced in the England-India Test series.
"Yes, there is a confirmed plan to retain the Pataudi link in the England-India series," Cricbuzz quoted an ECB official as saying.
Notably, according to a report by the Hindustan Times, the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy was set to be unveiled on the fourth day of the recently-concluded World Test Champoionship (WTC) final between Australia and South Africa at the Lord's stadium in London. However, the unveiling got postponed following the Ahmedabad plane crash tragedy, which resulted in the loss of 241 lives.
Meanwhile, the upcoming five-match Test series between India and England will be very important for both the sides as it will mark the beginning of the new WTC cycle. Additionally, the Men in Blue will be looking to emerge victorious in a Test series on English soil for the first time since 2007.
Ahead of the series, former skipper Rohit Sharma and star cricketer Virat Kohli announced their sudden retirements from Test cricket. This left BCCI with no other option but to choose a new captain right before the important assignment. They decided to hand the captaincy to 25-year-old Shubman Gill, who has never lead the side in red-ball cricket before.
The selection committee also decided to bring in fresh faces Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh into the 18-member squad and made many other changes to the squad that India used in their last Test assignment which was the five-match Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. It will be interesting to see how the team manages to fill the void left by Rohit and Virat and performs under an inexperienced captain like Gill.