Legends missing from Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy presentation
Sunil Gavaskar, writing in his column for Sportstar, has taken aim at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for not including Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson in the post-series presentation after the inaugural Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy.
“This was the first-ever series named after Sachin Tendulkar and Jimmy Anderson, two of cricket’s greatest legends. One would have expected both to be present to give the trophy to the two captains, especially since the series ended in a draw. To the best of one’s knowledge, both were in England at the time. So, were they simply not invited? Or was this similar to what happened in Australia earlier this year, when only Allan Border was asked to present the Border-Gavaskar Trophy because Australia had won the series? Since this England series was drawn, perhaps neither was asked to attend the presentation.”
The five-Test series ended 2-2 after Shubman Gill’s young Indian side pulled off a remarkable six-run victory at The Oval. Despite the high-profile nature of the occasion, ECB officials remained silent on why the two cricketing icons were absent.
Criticism of Pataudi Medal handling
Gavaskar also questioned the execution of the Pataudi Medal presentation, which was introduced to maintain the Pataudi family’s connection to the series after the original Pataudi Trophy was retired.
“Mostly around the world, administrators are brought in to ensure profits and are quite good at it, but they may not have much knowledge about the history of the sport they are presiding over. So, these little gestures are not in their scheme of things. Nobody from the Pataudi family was there either, for the Pataudi medal, which was to be presented to the winning team’s captain. The drawn series showed how silly this idea was of trying to make up to the Pataudis by retiring the trophy named after them. Every time the series is drawn, the medal can’t be presented, can it? Wouldn’t it be better, therefore, to have the medal for the Man of the Series than give it to the winning team’s captain? And what if the captain himself has had an ordinary series and had little impact on the result? If there had been a result and the Pataudi medal had to be given to the Man of the Series, it would have been a tough choice, for both skippers were simply outstanding.”
A flawed concept, says Gavaskar
For Gavaskar, the drawn result exposed a structural flaw in the ECB’s decision to retire the Pataudi Trophy and instead link the medal to the winning captain.
“Nobody from the Pataudi family was there either, for the Pataudi medal, which was to be presented to the winning team’s captain. The drawn series showed how silly this idea was of trying to make up to the Pataudis by retiring the trophy named after them.”
“Every time the series is drawn, the medal can’t be presented, can it? Wouldn’t it be better, therefore, to have the medal for the Man of the Series than give it to the winning team’s captain? And what if the captain himself has had an ordinary series and had little impact on the result?”
Context and standout performances
The ECB introduced the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy in place of the Pataudi Trophy ahead of the series, aiming to honour the two modern greats. India had previously won the Pataudi Trophy only once, in 2007, when Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi himself presented it to Rahul Dravid.
In the 2025 series, both captains — Gill for India and Stokes for England — were lauded for their leadership. Gill, in his maiden series as captain, scored 754 runs and was named India’s Player of the Series. England’s Harry Brook took their honours, while Stokes played a major role with 21 wickets before missing the final Test due to injury.
