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 received sharp criticism from the legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar.

"The recent news that the ECB is going to retire the Pataudi Trophy, given to the winners of the Test series between England and India in England, is disturbing indeed. This is the first time one has heard of a trophy named after individual players being retired, though the decision is entirely the ECB’s, and the BCCI may well have been informed," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

He also urged Indian cricketers to decline ECB's request to have their names in place of Tiger Pataudi if they are contacted.

"It shows a total lack of sensitivity to the contribution made by the Pataudis to cricket in both England and India. There may well be a new trophy named after more recent players, and here’s hoping that if an Indian player has been approached, he will have the good sense to politely decline — not only out of respect for two former India captains but also to avoid the same fate of having a trophy named after him retired after he is gone," he added.

Gavaskar believes that the ECB is well within its rights to rename the trophy, but he doesn’t like the decision to remove Pataudi's name.

"The ECB is fully entitled to name the trophy after one of their own players, but I, along with loads of Indian cricket supporters, fervently hope that any other Indian cricketer will have the smarts to decline, lest history repeats itself as it has with the Pataudi Trophy," said Gavaskar.

Recently, Sharmila Tagore -- renowned Bollywood actress and wife of the late Tiger Pataudi – revealed that the ECB has already contacted their actor-son Saif Ali Khan about the decision to retire the trophy.

"I haven't heard from them, but the ECB has sent a letter to Saif that they are retiring the trophy," Sharmila said while speaking to Hindustan Times.

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

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.