Name India-England series after Pataudi: Sharmila

Actress Sharmila Tagore has written to Board of Control for Cricket in India president N Srinivasan expressing displeasure over the Board's reluctance to officially name the upcoming India-England series after her late husband, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) had commissioned the Pataudi Trophy way back in 2007 in honour of the former Indian cricketer, to be presented to the winning captain at the end of future England-India Test series.

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It was conceived to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first-ever India-England Test series that took place in 1932, but the BCCI has still not given its official stamp of approval to the naming of the trophy.

Sharmila, in her e-mail to Srinivasan, on November 2, also wrote about the delay in formalising a Pataudi Memorial Lecture in the late cricketer's honour and the Board's reluctance in resolving a few legal issues involving her late husband, a former Indian captain.

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

"It has been more than a year or so, and that is where it 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 to me," Sharmila Tagore told Times Now.

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

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

Responding to Sharmila's letter, top BCCI official Rajiv Shukla said that the matter is under consideration.

"Sharmila Tagore has written to the BCCI president, Mr Srinivasan. She had sent an e-mail to him requesting him to name the India-England Trophy after her late husband, who was great cricketer, and her son, Saif Ali Khan, has spoken to me twice requesting the series to be named after his father.

"The matter is in domain of the BCCI president and BCCI working committee. They will have to look into several aspects before coming to any decision. I think the matter is under consideration," said Shukla.