Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar was disappointed with the way the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) snubbed James Anderson and Sachin Tendulkar during the trophy presentation ceremony.
The 5-match test series of the Anderson Tendulkar Trophy 2025 (formerly known as the Pataudi Trophy) was levelled between England and India with a 2-2 result.
Shockingly, neither Sachin nor James was invited for the inaugural edition’s trophy presentation event despite the duo of former cricketers being present in England.
This incident left Gavaskar frustrated. He recalled the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, where he was ignored from the presentation just because Australia won the series by 3-1.
Gavaskar Questions ECB for Not Inviting Tendulkar and Anderson
Recently, Sunil Gavaskar voiced his opinion in the column for Sportstar. He questioned why the ECB sidelined Tendulkar and Anderson for the trophy presentation:
“See! This was the first edition of the series that was named after Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson. So, any one of them should have been present there to hand over the trophy to the two teams’ captains as the series concluded in a draw. So, my question is why the duo were not invited despite being present in England,” Gavaskar questioned.
A Recall of the BGT Foolishness to Question the ECB
Sunil Gavaskar shared his experience on how he was snubbed during the BGT 2024-25 trophy presentation ceremony in Australia earlier this year, despite the series being named after him:
“Look! It is a known fact that both the legendary cricketers were in England at that time. So, it means that they were not invited to the trophy presentation ceremony. Or does it mean a similar incident to what happened in the Australian tour earlier this year?
Only Allan Border was asked to present the trophy because Australia triumphed in the 5-match test series. Likewise, the series in England was concluded in a draw. Perhaps, this might be the main reason why none of them were invited to attend the trophy presentation event,” Gavaskar explained.
No Member of the Pataudi Family Invited for Medal Presentation
Furthermore, Gavaskar was dissatisfied with the fact that none of the members of the late cricketer Pataudi’s family were invited to present the medal shared by Ben Stokes and Shubman Gill:
“Certainly! The administrators around the world are ensured to make profits, and they are good at that. However, they lack knowledge about the sport’s history or traditions. So, these small, meaningful gestures like honoring the past legends aren’t part of their plans. For instance, when the Pataudi medal was supposed to be presented to the winning team captain, no one from the Pataudi family was present at the ceremony,” the 76-year-old added.
A Foolish Concept After the Drawn Series: Gavaskar Lambasts ECB Approach
Sunil Gavaskar pointed out the ECB’s logicless concept. The Pataudi medal wasn’t given out after the drawn series. He suggested that the medal should have been presented to the Player of the Series rather than the winning team captain.
“No! This idea was completely foolish to honor the Pataudi trophy by getting rid of the trophy named after them.
Following the announcement of the Anderson Tendulkar Trophy, a promise was made to respect Pataudi’s legacy by naming a medallion for the series-winning team captain. Why only the captain always honored with a medal?
What about the medal presentation to those series that conclude in a draw, can it? So, wouldn’t it be wise to award the medal to the Man of the Series rather than the winning team skipper? In this way, the Pataudis will always be respected after the completion of every test match as well as every test series in England.
And what if the captain didn’t play well or had an ordinary series by having little to no impact on the outcome?
If one team had won and the Pataudi medal was handed to the best player of the series, then it would have been challenging to decide. This is because both team skippers delivered an outstanding performance,” Gavaskar concluded by explaining a few more facts.
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Conclusion
After the series ended, Indian captain Shubman Gill was named as the Player of the Series, as he ranked as the leading run-scorer. While England’s middle-order batter Harry Brook was awarded the same honor for his consistency throughout the series.
Earlier, Sunil Gavaskar urged the ECB to name the series as the “Tendulkar-Anderson” trophy rather than the opposite way, such as in alphabetical order. This was because Gavaskar believed that Tendulkar’s legacy was much superior to Anderson’s. Moreover, the Master Blaster was part of India’s World Cup-winning squad in 2011. In comparison, Jimmy Anderson hasn’t achieved this honor so far.
Also, Gavaskar and Sachin were among those experienced cricketers who supported preserving Pataudi’s legacy after his name was retired for the England-India trophy. As a result, the ECB decided to introduce a medal to honor the winning captain rather than completely retiring Pataudi’s name.
