Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar voiced his displeasure after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently renamed the prestigious Pataudi Trophy as the Anderson-Tendulkar last week in honour of James Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar, with the England pacer named before India’s batting maestro in the relaunched Test series.
In his column in the Mid-Day, Gavaskar slammed the ECB for failing to understand the magnitude of Tendulkar’s, which he considered to be ahead of England pace legend Anderson’s achievements. While Tendulkar remains the highest run-scorer (34,357) in international cricket, Anderson retired last year as the most successful pace bowler of all time with 991 wickets across formats.
“The ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) is fully entitled to call the series by any name they choose, but for most, if not all, Indian cricket lovers, it is jarring to know that Anderson’s name comes first. Not only is
Sachin Tendulkar, along with Kapil Dev, the greatest Indian cricketer, but also senior to Anderson by more than a dozen years,” Gavaskar wrote.
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Gavaskar also urged Indian fans and media to start calling the rechristened series as the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy, brushing off an argument for the alphabetical preference.
“He is numero uno as far as runs and centuries are concerned in Test cricket, but also at the one-day level, too, he has more runs than anybody else. Anderson is third in the list of wicket takers in Test cricket, and his record is nowhere as good as Tendulkar’s in one-day cricket,” Gavaskar added.
Gavaskar highlighted that Anderson was not part of a World Cup-winning side. The veteran pacer was a member of England’s T20 World Cup win in 2010, but did not get a game.
“Jimmy Anderson was a terrific bowler, but mainly in English conditions, and his record away is nowhere near as good as Tendulkar’s is,” he shared.
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Gavaskar had also lamented the ECB’s decision to retain the Pataudi sentiment by rewarding the winning captain of the five-match series the Pataudi medal in honour of the royal Pataudi family. The former India captain questioned what would happen to the medal if the series ended in a draw.
“The announcement of the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy also said that respect would be given to the Pataudis by having a medallion for the captain of the team winning the series. Why the captain and what if the series is drawn? That’s why it would have been better to have had a Pataudi medal for the Man Of The Match for every Test, culminating in the Pataudi Trophy for the Player Of The Series. This way, the Pataudis will be remembered after every Test match played as well as after the series is finished in England.It would be interesting to hear what Indian cricket lovers feel on this subject,” said Gavaskar.
