Bitter story related to Pataudi Trophy in India-England Test series, when India’s great captain and cricketer Pataudi was humiliated

The Pataudi Trophy was in fact, India’s captain, Mansoor Ali Khan (Tiger) Pataudi and his father Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi had a tribute to MCC (MCC), for contribution to cricket among these countries. Pataudi Senior is one of the few players who played Tests for two different teams and Pataudi coincided with both England and India.

The Pataudi Trophy was started by MCC in 2007, 1932, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the England-India first Test series. The trophy was designed and designed by London’s famous Silvermith Josleen Burton at his studio in Halbourne. The trophy was so beautiful that Josleen had also displayed it in a exhibition held at Bentley and Skinner in London in November-December 2012. That year Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was called to England to come and give the trophy to the winning captain himself. Incidentally, India captain Rahul Dravid became the first captain to achieve the trophy.

The bitter truth is that the BCCI has never officially replaced the Pataudi Trophy to the winner for the England-India Test series. It seemed that the MCC decided to play the England-India Test series in the name of Pataudi Trophy without the consent of the BCCI. The BCCI never welcomed the start of this trophy.

The ECB got a gesture from this and they also understood. When India’s team went to England in 2011, Pataudi was once again invited to provide the trophy to the winning captain. Pataudi was ill in those days and was undergoing treatment, but he went to England. He was at the Oval Stadium to give the trophy to the winning captain. It is on record that the trophy program program was also rehearsed with tiger and told them all what to do. When the time came to give the trophy to the winning captain, Pataudi was on the stage, but I do not know what happened behind the curtain that anchor Mike Atherton did not call Pataudi, winning captain Andrew Strauss to give Pataudi Trophy. Strauss was awarded the Sponsor’s Nopower Trophy as a series winner.

In a recent interview, his wife and famous actress Sharmila Tagore said that Pataudi was asked to give a trophy to Strauss when the official presentation was over. He gave the trophy but it neither telecasted nor came any special report in the media. In this way, Pataudi, one of India’s greatest captain and one of the cricketers, was humiliated that day.

Surprisingly, the BCCI did not take any stand on the issue. His wife Sharmila Tagore raised a big issue and said, ‘MCC started the Pataudi Trophy a few years ago but I feel that the decision was not approved by the ECB or BCCI then.’ Pataudi became more ill after returning from England and died a few days later (September 2011).

When the England team came on a India tour to play a 4-Test series in 2012-13, Sharmila Tagore wrote a letter to the BCCI and said that the India-England series should play for the Pataudi Trophy. In response, for the first time, the BCCI officially stated that this series is already being played for the Anthony de Melo Trophy and there is no reason to retire this trophy. In this way, the BCCI refused to name the India-England series in India as the Pataudi Trophy. It was from here that it was assumed that if the Test series between these two teams is in England, then it will play for the Pataudi Trophy and if it is in India, Anthony will play for de Melo Trophy.

The fun and surprising thing is that till then, those who know cricket in India and even Indian players had no information about the Anthony de Mello Trophy for the series played in India. Played under the captaincy of Pataudi, former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi criticized the BCCI for not resolving the issue properly. Bedi even tweeted, ‘(I) I have played 6 series against England and during this time there was no mention of D Melo Trophy.’

Let us tell you that the BCCI launched this Anthony de Mello Trophy in 1951, remembering his contribution to Indian cricket in the name of its first secretary. He was one of the most controversial persons of the years before independence in Indian cricket. He was responsible for many stories that actually gave Indian cricket a great infamy.

The truth is that this is not the only case of BCCI not giving proper respect to Pataudi’s contribution to Indian cricket. The BCCI was criticized when the board did not accept Sharmila Tagore’s suggestion of the name of the Pataudi Trophy in India. On this, the BCCI announced to start a lecture in honor of Pataudi. The announcement was made but did not start it. When the BCCI was criticized again on this issue, in 2013, the BCCI announced an annual lecture series in the same year. The first was given by Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi Memorial Lecture Sunil Gavaskar. Within a few years, the BCCI’s enthusiasm got cold in this case and these lectures stopped.

It is reported that now the winning team will give the captain of Pataudi a medal in the name of Pataudi. The truth is that after the 2007 series, officially, the Pataudi Trophy in England was never given to the captain who won the series. The 2014 series was officially played as Investec Series and in 2018, England captain Alastair Cook received Specsavers Trophy, while on 7 May 2022, Jaspreet Bumrah and Ben Stokes got LV Trophy (LV TOPHY) from Jasprit Bumrah and Ben Stokes. There is no doubt that the winning captain from 2007 also got the Pataudi Trophy but played the series officially in the name of the series sponsor.

Has this story ended with Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy?