The senior Indian men’s cricket team will travel to England for a five-match Test series immediately after the ongoing IPL 2025 season.

However, the teams may not play for the Pataudi Trophy this time around - named after the Pataudi family which gave India two Test captains in Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi [nicknamed Tiger Pataudi].

Recently, Cricbuzz reported that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is contemplating to 'retire' the Pataudi Trophy from the upcoming series.

The Pataudi Trophy was first awarded in 2007 to commemorate 75 years of first India versus England Test. Since then, the Pataudi Trophy has been handed to the winner of the bilateral Test series between India and England played on English soil.

The apparent move to retire the Pataudi Trophy has hurt Sharmila Tagore, renowned Bollywood actress and wife of the late Tiger Pataudi.

"I haven't heard from them, but the ECB has sent a letter to Saif that they are retiring the trophy,” Sharmila told Hindustan Times in an exclusive chat.

"If the BCCI wants to or does not want to remember Tiger's legacy, it is for them to decide," she added.

Meanwhile, the ECB has neither denied nor accepted the development. "This is not something we'll be able to offer you a comment on," an ECB spokerperson said.

Widely regarded as one of the finest captains produced by India, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi passed away in 2011 after battling with a lung infection. Pataudi played 46 Tests for the country, scoring 2793 runs for an average of 34.91 with an unbeaten 203 being his highest score. In all, he slammed six hundreds and 16 half-centuries in his career.

While retiring a trophy is not something common in cricket, it has happened in the past. The Test series played between England and West Indies was changed from Wisden Trophy to Richards-Botham Trophy in 2020.