The way the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) handled the renaming of the England-India Test series and the introduction of a new winner’s medal named after the late Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi disappointed former cricketer Farokh Engineer.
The cricket community had mixed feelings about the ECB’s decision to rename the Pataudi Trophy, which had been established for the 2007 India-England Test series, as the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy ahead of the current five-match series.
“Well, I had a terrific friendship with Tiger Pataudi. I have a great colleague. We spent a lot of time playing Test cricket. Wonderful family, wonderful heritage. When the award was renamed in his honour in 2007, I was ecstatic,” Engineer remarked.
“On the one side, I was really upset that the Pataudi name was taken away. I would have loved to see Tiger’s name continue, but the decision was made by game giants Anderson and Sachin. The introduction of the Pataudi Medal was clearly an afterthought; it would have been more credible if they had made the announcement earlier, but at least they took action. I hope the Pataudi name endures forever because common sense has won out,” the engineer continued.
Although the engineer agreed that it is appropriate to name the medal after Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson, the choice is still up for debate. He said he hoped the Pataudi family, which includes Saif Ali Khan and Sharmila Tagore, will be asked to deliver the medal at this time.
It is impossible to dispute Tendulkar’s and Anderson’s accomplishments. The narrative has two sides to it. It’s really considerate of them to have named the medal after Pataudis. You can’t blame them for naming the trophy after Sachin and Anderson, but it must be a backup plan to please many Pataudi fans, of whom I am one,” the engineer remarked.
They have retained the moniker, even though the entire matter is up for debate. I hope Mansur’s wife Sharmila Tagore and his son Saif Ali Khan are invited to award the medal. They didn’t do that in the previous series. The European Central Bank was blamed for that. “I hope they give them the credit they deserve,” he said.
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