‘It is jarring to know that Anderson's name comes first': Sunil Gavaskar on why Sachin's name should come first in Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy
India legend Sunil Gavaskar said that the putting James Anderson's name ahead of Sachin Tendulkar in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series between India and England was not something that he agreed with. The former batter pointed out that Sachin was much senior to Anderson and the India icon's achievements far outweighed the English bowler's.
'The ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) is fully entitled to call the series by any name they choose but for most, if not all, Indian cricket lovers it is jarring to know that Anderson's name comes first. Not only is Sachin Tendulkar along with Kapil Dev the greatest Indian cricketer, but also senior to Anderson by more than a dozen years. He is numero uno as far as runs and centuries are concerned in Test cricket but also at the one-day level too he has more runs than anybody else,' Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-day.
'Anderson is third in the list of wicket takers in Test cricket and his record is nowhere as good as Tendulkar in one-day cricket. Tendulkar is also part of a World Cup winning team which Anderson has not been. Jimmy Anderson was a terrific bowler but mainly in English conditions and his record away is nowhere near as good as Tendulkar's is. I also urge all Indian cricket lovers including the India media to call it the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy,' he added.
The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy is a joint initiative between the ECB and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and will replace the previous trophies on offer — series in England were played for the Pataudi Trophy while series in India were contested for the Anthony De Mello Trophy before this.
The BCCI and ECB had opted to have images of Anderson and Tendulkar on the new Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in recognition of the contribution of both legends. They are the most-capped players in the history of Test cricket: Tendulkar played 200 matches, and Anderson 188.
One of the finest exponents of swing bowling, Anderson, scalped 704 Test wickets, the most by a pacer in Tests. This puts him third on the all-time list, behind just legendary spinners like Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.
Tendulkar, meanwhile, remains the highest run-scorer in Test history with 15,921 runs. He made his debut at the age of 16 and went on to enjoy a distinguished 24-year international career, during which he played a pivotal role in India's success against every other Test-playing nation.
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