Sunil Gavaskar unhappy with ‘Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy’; wants the order of naming changed

Sunil Gavaskar wants the trophy to be called by the name of ‘Tendulkar-Anderson’ trophy.

Sunil Gavaskar, a legendary cricketer from India, has strongly objected to the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy being named after the ongoing five-match test series between India and England.

The Pataudi Trophy for the test series played between England and India in England has been replaced by the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, a decision initiated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

The ECB decided to include pictures of Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson on the new trophy to honour their respective efforts. With 200 test matches played by Tendulkar and 188 by Anderson, the two are the most-capped players in test history.

James Anderson, who is widely considered to be among the best swing bowlers, took the most test wickets by any fast bowler in the history of the game with 704 wickets. His incredible achievement puts him third on the list of all-time wicket-takers, only surpassed by the great spinners Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

However, with 15,921 runs, Sachin Tendulkar continues to be the top run scorer in test cricket. With 51 tons in 200 games, he also holds the record for most test centuries.

Sachin Tendulkar senior to James Anderson, his name should be first: Sunil Gavaskar slams ECB

Gavaskar argued that, due to Tendulkar’s seniority and noticeably more impressive record in international cricket, his name ought to come before James Anderson’s. The former batter pointed out that Sachin was much senior to Anderson and the India icon’s achievements far outweighed the English bowler’s.

“The ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) is fully entitled to call the series by any name they choose, but for most, if not all, Indian cricket lovers, it is jarring to know that Anderson’s name comes first. Not only is Sachin Tendulkar, along with Kapil Dev, the greatest Indian cricketer, but also senior to Anderson by more than a dozen years. He is numero uno as far as runs and centuries are concerned in Test cricket, but also at the one-day level, too, he has more runs than anybody else,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-day.

“Anderson is third in the list of wicket takers in Test cricket, and his record is nowhere as good as Tendulkar’s in one-day cricket. Tendulkar is also part of a World Cup-winning team, which Anderson has not been. Jimmy Anderson was a terrific bowler, but mainly in English conditions, and his record away is nowhere near as good as Tendulkar’s is. I also urge all Indian cricket lovers, including the Indian media, to call it the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy,” he added.

The Anderson-Tendulkar trophy was previously known as the Pataudi trophy, named after Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the father-son duo who played for India and captained India in tests as well.

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