Told Pataudi family, will do everything to keep his legacy alive: Sachin Tendulkar
New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI): Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday said 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The Pataudi trophy has been replaced by the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy in honour of the Indian batting great and former England pacer James Anderson.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 PTI.
"Tiger Pataudi played a huge role in inspiring many generations and that should be never 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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2001 Parliament attack anniversary: Vice Prez, PM Modi, MPs pay tributes to fallen heroes
New Delhi (PTI): Vice President C P Radhakrishnan on Saturday led Parliamentarians in paying floral tributes to those who died fending off terrorists who attacked the Parliament House in 2001.
On the 24th anniversary of the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Radhakrishnan, who is also the Rajya Sabha Chair, were among the first to offer tributes.
A brief function is held outside the now old Parliament building (Samvidhan Sadan) every December 13 to mark the day.
CISF personnel presented a salute or "samman guard" at the venue, after which a moment of silence was observed to mark the anniversary. Till 2023, the CRPF used to offer 'salami shastra' (present arms).
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a senior party leader, were also present at the event. Union ministers Kiren Rijiju, Jitendra Singh and Arjun Ram Meghwal also lined up to offer flower petals at the photographs of the personnel who went down foiling the attack.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is in Latur to attend the funeral of former speaker of the Lower House of Parliament and ex-Union minister Shivraj Patil.
The attack was carried out by five armed terrorists, but personnel from the now former Parliament Security Service, CRPF and Delhi Police foiled the attack, with no terrorist being able to enter the building.
Six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel, a gardener and a TV video journalist were killed in the attack. All five terrorists were gunned down in the forecourt of the then Parliament building.
