Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has criticized the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for not including Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson in the trophy presentation at The Oval. Both cricketing giants had been said to be present in England and then removed themselves on the occasion of presentation of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy following the fierce five-Test match.
Absence of Legends in Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Ceremony
This series lasted five games which saw a draw (2-2) and the young Indian team with Shubman Gill as the leader won by a close margin (six runs) of the last Test match at London. Nevertheless, amidst the importance, both Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson did not seem to pass the trophy to the England captain Ben Stokes and Gill of India. This has been silent with the ECB.
In his Sportstar column, Gavaskar wrote that he was confused as to why both former players were absent in the event yet they were in the country. In response to the parallel case of the recent Border-Gavaskar trophy series where players of cricket Australia left out Allan Border in the trophy presentations when he was present as a broadcaster, he gave his answer.
Comparison to Australia’s Trophy Presentation Controversy
“This was the first-ever series named after Sachin Tendulkar and Jimmy Anderson, two of cricket’s greatest legends. One would have expected both to be present to give the trophy to the two captains, especially since the series ended in a draw. To the best of one’s knowledge, both were in England at the time. So, were they simply not invited? Or was this similar to what happened in Australia earlier this year, when only Allan Border was asked to present the Border-Gavaskar Trophy because Australia had won the series? Since this England series was drawn, perhaps neither was asked to attend the presentation,” Gavaskar wrote.
The ex Indian batting legend also raised the issue of absence of the Pataudi family when Pataudi Medal was presented. He criticized the ideas behind the retirement of a trophy with the name of Pataudis, which did not provide the possibility of a drawn series when the medal is not to be awarded.
Critique of Pataudi Medal Presentation and Trophy Tradition
“Mostly around the world, administrators are brought in to ensure profits and are quite good at it, but they may not have much knowledge about the history of the sport they are presiding over. So, these little gestures are not in their scheme of things. Nobody from the Pataudi family was there either, for the Pataudi medal, which was to be presented to the winning team’s captain. The drawn series showed how silly this idea was of trying to make up to the Pataudis by retiring the trophy named after them. Every time the series is drawn, the medal can’t be presented, can it? Wouldn’t it be better, therefore, to have the medal for the Man of the Series than give it to the winning team’s captain? And what if the captain himself has had an ordinary series and had little impact on the result?
If there had been a result and the Pataudi medal had to be given to the Man of the Series, it would have been a tough choice, for both skippers were simply outstanding.”
For the record, ECB name replaced the classic Pataudi trophy by the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, pay tribute to two cricket legends. India had won the original Pataudi Trophy only once, which was in 2007 after Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi presented and handed the trophy to Rahul Dravid who was the captain for India back then.
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