England and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to retire the Pataudi Trophy and rename the England versus India Test series as ‘Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy’ had stirred a controversy two months ago.
After the outrage from both fans and several former cricketers, ECB decided to present the Pataudi medal to the winning captain instead.
However, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar lambasted the ECB after the end of the hard-fought series, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Gavaskar pointed out that no one from the Pataudi family was in attendance at the presentation ceremony. Considering the fact that the five-match series ended 2-2, the 76-year-old felt presenting the medal to the winning captain was a bit 'silly'.
"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," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
"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?" he added.
Gavaskar also questioned why both Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson were not invited for the presentation ceremony despite the fact that both of them were present in England at the time.
"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," he remarked.
