How Sachin's phone calls resolved the Pataudi Trophy controversy

Sachin Tendulkar opened up about the Pataudi Trophy row on the eve of India's Test series opener against England at Leeds. The batting great said he reached out to the family of the late Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, after whom the India-England Test series had been named until recently.

"I know that the Pataudi Trophy was retired a few months ago by BCCI and ECB. But when I got to know about the trophy being named after me and (James) Anderson, my first phone call was to the Pataudi family," Tendulkar said in an interview with PTI.

The BCCI and ECB received considerable criticism for their joint decision to retire the Pataudi Trophy and replace it with the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy in honour of the English and Indian legends.

However, Tendulkar's intervention helped resolve the matter. Though the series will be called Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy going forward, the winning skipper will be given a Pataudi Medal of Excellence. "Tiger Pataudi played a huge role in inspiring many generations and that should be never forgotten. So I'm glad with this outcome," Tendulkar said.

The legendary batter said he spoke with former BCCI secretary and current ICC chairman Jay Shah and senior officials at ECB to find a solution. "I spoke to them. I told them everything. At the same time, I mentioned that to keep the Pataudi legacy alive, we will do everything possible. And then I picked up the phone and spoke to Mr Shah and ECB officials and shared a few ideas.

"Because it played a huge role in inspiring many generations and that should be never forgotten. I'm very happy that this kind of attention to detail was given to our discussions and eventually came up with the option of having a medal in his honour.

"I felt all the phone calls made and all the discussions that we had, it was good. And in the end, it produced a positive result for not just Anderson and me, because the decision was taken by BCCI and ECB, but also simultaneously also decided to introduce this medal in his honour, which is a nice feeling."