ECB plans to retire the Pataudi Trophy from England-India Test series © Getty
The ECB is planning to retire the Pataudi Trophy, which is a symbol of the Test series between England and India. This change could be implemented from the England vs India series to be held in June-July. Will this historic trophy now just become a memory ?
It is not yet clear what could be the reason for retiring the Pataudi Trophy, there is a possibility that a new trophy could be started in the name of legends of the new era. Are cricket fans going to be witnesses of a new and iconic trophy ?
When the ECB was contacted on this issue, the board spokesperson neither denied it nor confirmed it. They said, “We cannot comment on this matter.” Will the journey of the Pataudi Trophy ends here ?
According to sources, late MAK Pataudi’s family has been informed about the decision. “This is the understanding from ECB’s side,” said a source close to the family. “Usually trophies are retired after some time,” he said.
Late Pataudi’s wife Sharmila Tagore has already expressed her displeasure over the behaviour of ECB. She believes that this kind of behavior with her family is not right.
When the English team was busy celebrating their victory and doing photo sessions, Tiger Pataudi was standing alone near the trophy. Andrew Strauss, who was the captain of the England team at that time, seeing his condition, went near him.
When Tiger Pataudi handed over the trophy to Andrew Strauss, this moment was neither captured on camera nor shown on TV. We all went to London in August on a special invitation from the ECB, but the entire event did not go as per the plan. Nothing was clear even till the day of the match, which surprised us even more.
As soon as he returned to India, Tiger Pataudi’s health deteriorated and he had to be admitted to the hospital. Pataudi died in September, and at that time other things were of more importance to our family. Due to this, we could not pay much attention to this matter, he said this to Sportstar in 2018.
Pataudi died in September 2011 at the age of 70.
The concept of retiring a trophy is not very common, but there are some such examples in cricket. For example, the Wisden Trophy between England and West Indies was retired and renamed as Richards-Botham Trophy.
Some trophies in cricket have become a symbol of time which never change with time. Like the Ashes, which has been going on between England and Australia since 1982-83. There are also legendary trophies like Frank Worrell (West Indies-Australia, 1960/61), Border-Gavaskar (India-Australia, 1996/96), Crowe-Thorpe (New Zealand-England, 2024-25) and Warne Muralitharan (Australia-Sri Lanka, 2007/08). All these trophies have their own unique legacy !
Since 2007, the England-India Test series is known as the Pataudi Trophy whenever Team India tours England. In India, both the teams fight for the Anthony de Mello Trophy, which was started in 1951 in the name of the former president of BCCI. Both these trophies are part of a beautiful legacy of cricket!
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