5 Indian cricketers in the ICC Hall of Fame

The International Cricket Council along with the Federations of International Cricketers Association launched the ICC Hall of Fame in the year 2009 to recognize and award the cricketers who have had great achievements in their cricketing career. This event was launched in the year 2009 in Dubai.

There are 87 members inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame from all over the world. England tops the list with as many as 28 players, while Australians comprise of 25 players and the West Indies with 18 players. India and Pakistan have 5 players each from both the countries, while Sri Lanka has 1 player inducted into the Hall of Fame list.

There are seven women cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Former England Women’s cricket team Skipper, Rachel Flint was the first women cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in the year of 2010.

Let us look at the 5 Indian Cricketers, who achieved a spot in the ICC Hall of Fame:

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#1 Bishan Singh Bedi

Bishan Singh Bedi is regarded as one of the finest off-spinner to play for India in Test Cricket. The slow left-arm spinner made his debut for India in Test Cricket in the year of 1966 and had a successful career until retirement in the year of 1974. He played 5 years of ODI cricket for India from 1974-1979.

In 67 Test Matches, Bishan Singh Bedi picked up 266 wickets at an average of 28.71. He is known for a simple yet effective bowling action and could bowl all day long. Known for his variation are spin and guile, he was always an asset to any captain. Bedi was appointed as captain of India in the year 1976, he was part of India’s infamous chase of 406 against West Indies at Port-of-Spain.

Bedi holds the record for most first-class wickets than any other Indian. He has picked up 1560 wickets, which is a record.

Bedi was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in the year of 2009.

#2 Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev is probably the most gifted natural athlete and the best all-rounder India has ever produced. The right arm pace bowler made his debut for India in the year of 1978 and has had a successful career until retirement in the year 1994.

Kapil Dev was a pace bowler, who is known for his outswinger and for his aggressive batting in the lower middle order. Under Kapil Dev’s captaincy, India won their first Limited overs World cup in the year of 1983.

Regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders to play the game, Kapil Dev picked up 434 Test wickets at an average of 29.64 and also scored 5248 runs. He is the only cricketer in the world to pick up more than 400 wickets and score more than 5000 runs in Test cricket. He is also the first player to pick up more 200 ODI wickets.

Kapil Dev retired from all forms of cricket in the year of 1994 and held the record for most Test Wickets by surpassing the record held by Richard Hadlee.

Kapil Dev was appointed as coach of Team India in the year of 1999. Under his tenure, India could only manage 1 Test win and suffered series losses against Australia (3-0 Away) and South Africa (2-0 Home). This led to his resignation and he was succeeded by John Wright, who was the first foreign coach of India.

Kapil Dev was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the year of 2010.

#3 Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar, known as Little Master, is one of the greatest Test batsman and one of the finest openers of India. Known for his great technique and approach to playing fast bowling, he set multiple records during his tenure and captained India for many seasons.

Gavaskar made his debut in the year of 1971 and played until 1987. He was instrumental in India’s first ever Test win against West Indies, where he scored 65 and 67* in the Test match. In the 5th Test, he helped India register its first-ever series victory against West Indies in West Indies. He scored 124 and 220 in the match.

Gavaskar has had a less successful captaincy stint as the results of the team fluctuated at home and overseas. This resulted in captaincy shuffle between him and Kapil Dev. In his final Test series in the year of 1987 against Pakistan, Gavaskar crossed the 10,000 run mark in the 4th Test at Ahmedabad. However, India lost the 5 match Test series 1-0 to Pakistan.

Sunil Gavaskar, held multiple records such as the first player to reach 10,000 run mark. He held the record for highest Test centuries of 34, that was held for more than 2 decades. He was also the first Indian to take more than 100 catches in Test cricket (excluding wicket-keeper).

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the year of 2009.

#4 Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble, the former Indian Test player, and the captain is one among the 5 Indian players to be a part of the ICC Hall of Fame. Known as Jumbo, Anil Kumble played for India for more than 18 years and is regarded as one of the finest spin bowlers to represent India. He was a leg-spinner known for his stump to stump accuracy and also a handy lower order batsman.

Kumble made his Test debut in the year of 1990 against England in Manchester, where he picked up 3 wickets in the match that ended up as a draw. However, his real break came against South Africa in South Africa, where he picked up 18 wickets in the 4-match Test series.

Kumble had a great career in the 90’s in both the formats with 1996 being his most successful career as he picked 61 ODI wickets in the year and was the leading wicket-taker in the 1996 World Cup with 15 wickets. Kumble rose through the ranks and kept setting records as the years went by. He was also instrumental in India’s series win in West Indies that came after 35 years. He picked up his 500th wicket in the year of 2006 against England and became the first Indian and 5th overall to achieve the feat.

Kumble retired from Test Cricket in the year of 2008 in the 3rd test against Australia in New Delhi, thus ending his career with 619 Test wickets in 132 games with an average of 29.65.

He continued his career in IPL, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore and mentoring few teams. His brief coaching career was also successful as India had a successful tenure in the year of 2016/17 before he was succeeded by Ravi Shastri.

Anil Kumble was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the year of 2015.

#5 Rahul Dravid

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Rahul Dravid needs no introduction. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the game of cricket and a thorough gentleman on the field. With a career lasting for as long as 16 years, Rahul Dravid has broken many records in his playing days and is the latest entrant in the ICC Hall of Fame.

Rahul Dravid made his Test debut for India in the year of 1996 against England at Lords. He caught the eye of many with a brilliant 95 on debut against a potent England bowling attack.

He continued his good form against South Africa in South Africa, where he notched up his maiden Test century in Johannesburg. He was the best batsman for Team Indian in the West Indies series that followed after, where he scored 360 runs in the 5 match series that India lost 1-0.

Rahul Dravid struggled in the limited overs format in the years between 1996-98, however, his real break came in the 1999 World Cup in England, where he was the highest scorer with 461 runs with 2 centuries in 8 games at an outstanding average of 65.85.

Rising through the ranks, Rahul Dravid was instrumental in the famous win against Australia at the Eden Gardens in the year 2001. He along with VVS Laxman put on a monumental 376 runs for the 6th wicket. India went on to win the Test match and won the series 2-1 with a win the 3rd Test at Chennai.

Dravid continued his splendid run of form scoring 602 runs in the 4-match Test series against England that helped India level the series 1-1. He was also instrumental in India’s finest Test win against Australia at Adelaide, where he scored 233. Dravid’s 270 against Pakistan, helped India win they're first ever Test series against Pakistan in their soil.

Rahul Dravid captained India to Test series win in West Indies and England from 2006-07. However, a poor World Cup in 2007 led to him giving up the captaincy. In the 2011 tour of England, Rahul Dravid scored 461 runs in the 4 match series but couldn’t help India prevent the whitewash. He retired from the One-Dayers on the same tour, where he scored 69 against England in his final ODI at Cardiff.

After a poor Test series against Australia in 2012, Rahul Dravid announced his retirement from International Cricket. He continued to mentor Rajasthan Royals in IPL and is currently the head coach of U19 Indian Cricket Team.

Rahul Dravid holds many records, including being the 4th highest run scorer in Test Cricket to being the only player to score a Test century in all Test-playing countries. He also holds the record for playing the most number of balls (44152) in Test Cricket.

Rahul Dravid was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the year of 2018.