England vs India Test series should be called the 'Tendulkar-Cook Trophy': Monty Panesar

England former left-arm spinner Monty Panesar believes that the four-match Test series between India and England should be named on two legendary cricketers, Alastair Cook and Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar scored 15921 runs in Test cricket (the highest-ever) while Cook ended his career with 12472 runs (the best by an Englishman).

Currently, the four match Test series between India and England is called Anthony de Mello Trophy as it is named after Indian cricket administrator and one of the founders of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Meanwhile, if the Test series is conducted in England, it is called the Pataudi Trophy, named after the legendary Pataudi family.

Monty gave the suggestion of renaming the Test series between the two nations to honour the two legendary cricketers via his official Twitter handle. “Eng v India test series should be called the “Tendulkar Cook trophy ” because both have the highest test runs for their countries,they played a lot against each other and we know Tendulkar is the biggest legend and we don’t have a series named after him. @englandcricket @BCCI #INDvENG” the veteran spinner tweeted.

Here are Monty Panesar’s tweets

Eng v India test series should be called "Tendulkar Cook trophy " because both have highest test runs for their countries,they played a lot against eachother and we know Tendulkar is the biggest legend and we dont have a series named after him. @englandcricket @BCCI #INDvENG

— Monty Panesar (@MontyPanesar) February 10, 2021

In another tweet, Panesar suggested that the Test series between India and England can also be called the “Vaughan Dravid Trophy”, “Tendulkar Anderson Trophy” or “Botham Kapil Trophy”. He even conducted a poll on his Twitter handle for the same.

What should be the #INDvENG test series should be called ? @sachin_rt @jimmy9 @MichaelVaughan @BeefyBotham @therealkapildev @englandcricket @BCCI #INDvENG

— Monty Panesar (@MontyPanesar) February 10, 2021

Team is simply not doing well under Virat Kohli: Monty Panesar

India was at the receiving end of a humiliating defeat against England in the first Test at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai by a massive 227 runs. It was the fourth Test loss for India, on a trot, under the leadership of Virat Kohli. Speaking about the same, Panesar reckoned that Virat is one of the greatest batsmen of all-time and hasn’t been able to essay the role of a leader well.

Monty Panesar is of the view that if India loses the second Test match against England, then Kohli will automatically step down as the captain as vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has done phenomenally well as a leader for India.

Speaking to WION, Monty Panesar said, “Virat Kohli is one of the greatest batsmen of all-time. But the team is simply not doing well under him and we have the result in the last four Test that India played under him. I think Kohli will be under pressure and more now because Rahane has done phenomenally well as the captain. India have already lost four Tests in a row and if the number goes to five in the next match, then I think he will step down from his role.”