Team India’s latest victory by 157 runs against England in the Oval Test has raised hopes for Virat Kohli’s men to bring the Pataudi Trophy back home after a lapse of about 15 years.
The Pataudi Trophy was commissioned by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in the year 2007 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s first Test match in 1932. Jocelyn Burton, an award-winning silversmith in England, is the maker of the Pataudi Trophy. She enthroned a jasper and silver cricket ball in a little Indian pavilion with decorative pillars, above which is a rose bowl surrounded by stylised lotus petals. In the centre of the bowl is a finial set with a green chrysoprase, a gemstone.
As for taking home the Pataudi Trophy, a team must win a series — a drawn series results in the previous holders retaining the trophy. India brought in the trophy in its inaugural year. However, it had to return the trophy after losing in all three previous series across 2011, 2014 and 2018. Now, all eyes will be on the final 5th Test beginning at the Oldtrafford from 10 September.
In the last tournament, which was held in 2018, actress Sharmila Tagore, wife of the late cricketer Pataudi, after whom the trophy is named, was invited by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to hand over the Trophy to the England winning captain in 2018. However, she has not been invited to handover the trophy to the winner this time. “I have not heard from the ECB,” she confirmed to this reporter minutes after India’s victory.
