India-England series gets legendary upgrade with Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy

Sachin Tendulkar, James Anderson (PIc: AFP)

India and England will play the upcoming five-match Test series in the UK for a new trophy named after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson.

A report in the BBC said the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy will be unveiled in the run-up to the marquee series, which begins at Headingley on June 20, but added that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) declined to comment.

Previously, Test rubbers between England and India in the UK had been played for the Pataudi Trophy, named after Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and his son, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.

In March, the ECB wrote to the Pataudi family that they wanted to retire the trophy.

One of the game's all-time greats, Tendulkar remains the leading run-scorer in Test history with 15,921. The 52-year-played 200 Tests between 1989 and 2013 and holds innumerable records across the two formats of Test and ODI.

Anderson is both England's all-time leading wicket-taker and the most successful pace bowler in Test cricket with 704 wickets.

Since retiring from international cricket last summer, the 42-year-old Anderson has worked as England's bowling consultant and is now playing county cricket for Lancashire after recently signing a contract extension.

The two legends faced each other in 14 Tests, with Anderson dismissing Tendulkar nine times, the most by any bowler against the Indian icon.

England are the current and final holders of the Pataudi Trophy, having retained it with a 2-2 draw in a series held over 2021 and 2022 because of the COVID 19 pandemic.

The move to rename the trophy follows a similar step taken by England and New Zealand, who last year introduced the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy, named after former players Martin Crowe and Graham Thorpe.

(With PTI inputs)