India and England are preparing well for the upcoming series which is scheduled to take place from 20th June. Both of the time will partake in five-match Test series and the last Test match would be played on 31st June.
The venerable Pataudi Trophy will be replaced by the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in advance of the five-match Test series that begins at Headingley on June 20 of this summer. At this week’s World Test Championship final at Lord’s, the two men are anticipated to attend a ceremonial unveiling.
Reacting to this news, the former and legendary English bowler James Anderson said he could not be more proud of the fact that he is now associated with the England-Inida rivalry.
“It’s a huge honour,” Anderson told ESPNcricinfo during a DP World event at Lord’s. “I still can’t quite believe it. Sachin is someone I looked up to when I was growing up, though I don’t want to do him a disservice with his age.
“I remember watching him, an absolute legend of the game, and I played against him a lot as well. So to have this trophy is a huge honour for me, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Anderson played 188 Test matches for England and has been most prolific bowler in the format. Only Sachin was ahead of him as he took the Test field for 200 times.
Due to their longevity, Tendulkar’s Test debut in 1989 at the age of 16 and Anderson’s departure on the eve of his 42nd birthday last year marked 35 years in total. Between 2006 and 2012, their paths crossed 14 times on the Test field, with Anderson dismissing Tendulkar nine times.
“Time flies,” Anderson added. “I’m playing with guys at Lancashire at the moment, and I had 50 Test wickets before they were born. It’s a bit strange how things work out.”
With a total of 149 at 25.47 in 39 matches over his 21-year Test career, Anderson took more wickets against India than any other Test nation.
Highlights of his career included playing a significant part in a historic victory in Mumbai in 2005–06, as well as consecutive home and away series victories in 2011 and 2012–13, the first of which moved England to the top of the ICC Test rankings.
“There are some great memories, I always loved playing against India,” Anderson said. “I’d say, after the Ashes, it was the series that England look forward to the most. I obviously had some tough times in India, it’s a really hard place to go, but we won there which was a really special moment, and some of the battles we had in England were great. They had some amazing players.”
He expected the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy to be a challenging match, comparable to the last India tour of England three years prior, which ended 2-2 after the last Test was postponed by a full year because of COVID.
“This series is going to be exactly the same as you’d expect,” Anderson said. “I know India are going through a little bit of change with a new captain [Shubman Gill], and losing [Virat] Kohli and [Rohit] Sharma, but I still think they’ve got a strong squad with some really exciting players. England obviously are trying to play a certain way. It lends itself to a really exciting series.”
