Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has also criticised ECB on the latter not inviting Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson to the ceremony of the first edition of Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. In a five-Test match series between India and England, 2 matches ended up in a draw. But Gavaskar had his reservations as he felt that it would be hardly possible to miss the two legends of the cricket world, more so given the fact that the trophy is named after them.
Gavaskar compares his exclusion from BGT presentation
The former India captain likened his own experience earlier this year in Australia, where he was barred from attending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy presentation, while only Allan Border was present because the hosts had won. Sunil Gavaskar speculated that a similar thought may have resulted in both Tendulkar and Anderson being left out of the Oval ceremony.
“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 hand 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,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
Gavaskar Slams Move to Reconcile with Pataudis Following Series Draw
Without Tendulkar or Anderson at the presentation, India captain Shubman Gill and England captain Ben Stokes posed alongside the trophy individually. Meanwhile, India won the last Test at The Oval in dramatic style, bowling the hosts out for 367 in a run chase of 374. Mohammed Siraj’s five-wicket haul and Prasidh Krishna’s assistance secured the victory for the visitors. Furthermore, Gavaskar mentioned the Pataudi Medal, which was handed to both Gill and Stokes despite the series being drawn. He emphasized that the medal should belong to the Player of the Series, not the winning captain.
“Mostly around the world, administrators are brought in to ensure profits and are quite good at it, but they may not have much knowledge about the history of the sport they are presiding over. So, these little gestures are not in their scheme of things. 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 foolish this idea was of trying to make amends to the Pataudis by retiring the trophy named after them. Every time the series is drawn, the medal can’t be presented, can it? Wouldn’t it be better, therefore, to award the medal to the Man of the Series rather than the winning team’s captain? And what if the captain himself had an ordinary series and little impact on the result? If there had been a result and the Pataudi Medal had to be given to the Man of the Series, it would have been a tough choice, for both skippers were simply outstanding,” he added.
Meanwhile, Gill was voted Player of the Series after scoring 754 runs in his debut Test series as captain, while Harry Brook was named England’s Player of the Series.
