NEW DELHI: Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has expressed strong reservations over the naming of the ongoing five-match Test series between India and England as the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Gavaskar argued that Sachin Tendulkar’s name should appear before James Anderson’s, citing Tendulkar’s seniority and vastly superior achievements in international cricket.Writing in his column for Mid-Day, Gavaskar dismissed the reasoning that names were ordered alphabetically and took particular aim at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for their decision.“The ECB 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.The former India captain continued by underlining the disparity in accomplishments between the two cricketing icons.“Anderson is third in the list of wicket takers in Test cricket and his record is nowhere as good as Tendulkar 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,” he added.Gavaskar also called upon Indian fans and the media to refer to the series as the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy, flipping the current order to reflect what he believes is the more appropriate recognition.
In the same column, Gavaskar offered suggestions regarding the Pataudi Medal of Excellence, which is currently awarded to the captain of the series-winning team. He questioned the logic behind that structure.“Why the captain and what if the series is drawn? That’s why it would have been better to have had a Pataudi medal for the man of the match for every Test, culminating in the Pataudi Trophy for the player of the series. This way, the Pataudis will be remembered after every Test match played as well as after the series is finished in England,” Gavaskar remarked.
