Legendary India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar added a fresh feather into his already illustrious cap as he was finally inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame on Friday. The batting icon was inducted along side South African pace legend Allan Donald and two-time World Cup-winning Australian woman cricketer Cathryn Fitzpatrick.Tendulkar became the sixth Indian to achieve this feat after Bishan Singh Bedi (2009), Kapil Dev (2009), Sunil Gavaskar (2009), Anil Kumble (2015) and Rahul Dravid (2018).
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In total, 87 cricketers have been inducted into this exclusive club with 28 cricketers from England, 26 from Australia and 18 from West Indies. Pakistan have five representations from their nation, New Zealand and South Africa three each and Sri Lanka have one player chosen for this club.
Before Tendulkar, five Indians were inducted into his list and one would argue why Rahul Dravid was chosen before ‘Master Blaster’ considering he had a better overall record. Moreover, Tendulkar was part of the team that won the 2011 World Cup while Dravid failed to add this particular trophy into his bulging cabinet.
The answer to this question lies within the strict rules set by the ICC with respect to the prestigious award. For a batsman to qualify for this exclusive club, he must have scored at least 8,000 runs and 20 centuries in any of the two major formats (ODIs and Tests). As for a bowler, he should have scalped at least 200 wickets and his strike-rate must be 50 in Tests and 30 in ODIs.
{{/usCountry}}The answer to this question lies within the strict rules set by the ICC with respect to the prestigious award. For a batsman to qualify for this exclusive club, he must have scored at least 8,000 runs and 20 centuries in any of the two major formats (ODIs and Tests). As for a bowler, he should have scalped at least 200 wickets and his strike-rate must be 50 in Tests and 30 in ODIs.
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As per the above regulations, both Tendulkar and Dravid qualify for the club but there is one more criteria that needs to be fulfilled. A cricketer becomes eligible for this illustrious award only after he completes five years of retirement. Considering Dravid (2012) and Kumble (2008) both called time on their illustrious careers before Tendulkar (2013), the duo were inducted before the ‘Master Blaster’.