Sharmila's plea to name trophy after Pataudi turned down

Sharmila's plea to name trophy after Pataudi turned down

An emotional plea by actress Sharmila Tagore toname the India-England cricket series in honour of her late husband Mansoor AliKhan Pataudi was today turned down by the BCCI which said it could not changethe name of series played under the name of its first secretary since 1951.

Four days after Sharmila wrote an email letter to BCCIPresident N Srinivasan expressing her displeasure over the Board's reluctanceto name the series after the late Pataudi, the Board said the India-Englandseries in India has always been played for the Anthony De Mello trophyinstituted in 1951.

"India-England Test Series in India is played for theAnthony De Mello trophy instituted in 1951 in the name of the first secretaryof the BCCI, recognising his contribution to Indian cricket," BCCIsecretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement.

The BCCI statement came hours after the contents ofSharmila's letter was reported by the media.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) had commissioned thePataudi Trophy way back in 2007 in honour of the former Indian cricketer, to bepresented to the winning captain at the end of future England-India Testseries.

It was conceived to celebrate the 75th anniversary of thefirst-ever India-England Test series that took place in 1932, but the BCCI didnot give its official stamp of approval to the naming of the trophy, andSharmila, in her email sent to Srinivasan on November 2, had expressed herdisappointment.

"In 2007, when MCC proposed the institution of PataudiTrophy for England-India series, the BCCI had clarified that the trophy isalready named after Anthony De Mello," the statement added.

Sharmila had also written on the delay in formalising aPataudi Memorial Lecture in and the Board's reluctance in resolving a few legalissues involving her late husband, a former Indian captain.

Pataudi, who had played 46 Tests for India and scored 2793runs at an average of 34.91, passed away on September 22, 2011. He captainedIndia in 40 Tests.

Sharmila said that the Board officials had assured her thatthey would look into the issue.

"Prof (Ratnakar) Shetty has written to me and I hadwritten back to Mr Srinivasan asking him whether the family has any role toplay, whether we can suggest a speaker. To which he had replied that the familywill not have any role to play but it will happen every year...it is at the timewhen BCCI honours every player.

"It has been more than a year or so, and that is whereit stands now. No response, nobody has called me. I have given them my number.They might be busy. I don't know but no one has called me or written back tome," Sharmila said.

"I have sent a word to them via friends, soI don't know what they are thinking. I would be happy if they let me knowwhether it is happening or not, so I won't pursue it then," she added.

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