Dropping the name Pataudi Trophy kicks up heat and dust in Indian cricket

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Tendulkar's complete silence questioned in several quarters; BCCI reportedly gets into damage control mode

The heat and dust over the renaming of the Pataudi Trophy to the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, meant for the winners of the India-England Test series played in England, continues unabated. The re-christening was formally done on the opening day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's on 11 June, while the first Test begins at Leeds on 20 June.

The renaming of the trophy after the two cricket stalwarts was at the behest of the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with surely an approving nod from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). What clinched the case was that renaming the trophy after two modern greats would be more relatable to younger cricket fans in the two countries. However, the furore it has caused back home has reportedly prompted the Indian board to write to its counterpart for some kind of damage control, Indian Express has reported.

The report quotes an unnamed BCCI official as saying: ''It's the ECB who decides on who they want to name their series (after). The BCCI has no role in it as it's their home series. We have requested them to name one of the post-match trophies after Pataudi and they will revert to us.'' If such a step is indeed taken, it will be an even worse form of tokenism.

Who remembers the Pataudis? Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi played Test cricket for the English team in the 1930s before becoming captain of the Indian team that toured England in 1946. Iftikhar, popularly known as Nawab of Pataudi Sr, was a dashing stroke-player and his knock of 238 not out for Oxford against Cambridge in 1931 remained unbroken until 2005. He scored a century on debut against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1932-33, the Ashes series famous for England's bodyline tactic devised to contain the great Donald Bradman.

Despite the extraordinary performance, he was dropped after two matches for the rest of the series because he disagreed with captain Douglas Jardine's tactics. After Khan refused to take his place in a bodyline leg-side field, Jardine retorted, "I see his highness is a conscientious objector."

He returned home before the end of the tour. His ethical stand and defiance not only cost him his cricketing career but did not endear him to English fans at the time. His equally well known son Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, or simply 'Tiger Pataudi' for cricket fans, also went on to play for India in Tests and captained the Indian side. This is possibly the only instance of a father and son leading the Test team of their country.