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New Delhi: Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar Thursday said that he reached out to the family of late Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi as soon as he got to know that the India-England Test series trophy was being renamed and tried to ensure that the former captain’s association with the marquee showdown remained intact.

The Pataudi trophy has been replaced by the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy in honour of the Indian batting great and former England pacer James Anderson. The decision to retire the Pataudi trophy was jointly taken by the England and Wales Cricket Board and the BCCI.

“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,” the Mumbai maestro recalled in an interview to News.

“Tiger Pataudi played a huge role in inspiring many generations and that should never be forgotten. So I’m glad with this outcome,” the 52-year-old, who is still the owner of highest number of Test runs, said.

The Pataudi name will continue to be attached to the series as it has been decided to present a newly instituted Pataudi Medal for Excellence’ to the winning captain.

This was after Tendulkar had multiple discussions with former BCCI secretary and current ICC chairman Jay Shah as well as bigwigs of ECB on the issue.

“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,” he said.

Tendulkar said he was pleased with the outcome of his discussions with the BCCI and the ECB on the retention of Pataudi’s name in the series.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Tendulkar and Anderson are bonafide legends of the game, having played 200 and 188 Tests respectively for their countries.

“My first trip to England was in 1988 and the first flight ever I took was from Mumbai to London. So, to hear that the trophy is going to be named after me sometime ago was heartwarming. I felt happy,” Tendulkar said.

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