Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has voiced his displeasure at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for not inviting Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson to the presentation of the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The five-match Test series ended 2-2, yet the two cricketing icons — after whom the trophy is named — were absent from the post-series ceremony at The Oval.
Gavaskar Draws a Parallel to His Own BGT Snub
Gavaskar likened the situation to his own experience in Australia earlier this year, where only Allan Border was present for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy presentation after the hosts won.
“𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩-𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙏𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙠𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙅𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙮 𝘼𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣. 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨,” 𝙂𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙖𝙧 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙣. “𝙎𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙣, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙 — 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝘽𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙.”
At the ceremony, India captain Shubman Gill and England skipper Ben Stokes posed beside the trophy without Tendulkar or Anderson. India had secured a dramatic win in the final Test, bowling England out for 367 while chasing 374, thanks to Mohammed Siraj’s five-wicket haul and Prasidh Krishna’s key breakthroughs.
Pataudi Medal Controversy
Gavaskar also criticised the way the Pataudi Medal was handled, pointing out that neither the Pataudi family nor the true Player of the Series was honoured as per cricketing tradition. Instead, both Gill and Stokes were given the medal despite the drawn result.
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 — 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆,” 𝑮𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒅. “𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕.”
Gill was ultimately named Player of the Series for his 754 runs in his debut series as Test captain, while Harry Brook earned England’s equivalent honour.
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