England-India Test series to be named after Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson

NEW DELHI: Cricketing legends Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson will now have a special place in the India-England Test rivalry, as the two boards, BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) have decided to name the Test series between the two countries the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, as per ESPNcricinfo.

The new trophy will be officially unveiled by Tendulkar and Anderson at Lord’s during the World Test Championship (WTC) final, which begins on June 11. This change comes just ahead of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, with India and England set to play a five-match Test series starting June 20 at Headingley in Leeds.

Anderson, who recently retired after playing 188 Tests, is regarded as England’s greatest fast bowler. Tendulkar, widely considered one of the greatest batters in the game’s history, played 200 Tests before retiring in 2013.

Previously, the Test series in England was known as the Pataudi Trophy, named after former India captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi. When the series was played in India, it was called the Anthony de Mello Trophy, in honour of one of the BCCI’s founding members and its first secretary and president.

This move follows a recent trend in international cricket. Last year, England and New Zealand began competing for the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy, named after Martin Crowe and Graham Thorpe. India and Australia already contest the well-known Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Test cricket.

England squad for the 1st Test: Ben Stokes (C), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.

India’s Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav. (ANI)