Former captains Rahul Dravid (India), Ricky Ponting (Australia) and former England women’s team wicket-keeper Claire Taylor have been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame for their stupendous achievements in international cricket.
Along with Dravid and Ponting, retired England woman wicketkeeper-batter Claire Taylor was also named in the ‘Hall of Fame’ during a ceremony in Dublin on Sunday. The three players were chosen by former inductees and members of the media.
Dravid became only the fifth player from India to be named in the elite list. Ponting is the 25th from Australia to receive the honor. Former Indian skippers Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev were inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame in 2009, while Anil Kumble was included in 2015.
Dravid’s Glory To The Hall Of Fame
Dravid said,
“to find your name in a list of all-time greats across generations is something one only dreams of while setting out on a cricket career.”
Ponting, who scored more than 13,000 runs in both tests and one-day internationals, said: “I loved every moment of my journey as a player and am so very proud of the team and personal achievements along the way.”
Dravid and Ponting have both scored more than 10,000 runs in Tests and ODIs. He aggregated 13,288 runs in 164 Tests with 36 centuries and 10,889 runs in 344 ODIs with 12 centuries and was in 2004 named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year as well as the ICC Test Player of the Year. Rahul, who played a solitary Twenty20 International, was also a brilliant slip fielder and finished his Test career in 2012 with 210 catches, which is a world record.
Ponting’s Track Record
Ponting too ended his career in 2012. He amassed 13,378 runs in 168 Tests with 41 centuries and 13,704 runs in 325 ODIs with 30 centuries. This skilled cricketer was named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2006 and 2007. He was also the ICC Test Player of the Year in 2006. Ponting reached four ICC Cricket World Cup finals, winning in 1999, 2003 and 2007. He captained Australia in a record 26 successive unbeaten ICC Cricket World Cup matches from 2003 to 2011. Leading the team to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and 2009, Ponting has many achievements. He also featured in 17 Twenty20 Internationals.
Claire Taylor
Taylor scored 103 runs in 15 Tests, 4,101 runs in 126 ODIs and 615 runs in 21 T20Is. She was named the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2009. She was named the player of the tournament in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009. Claire was given the same honor in ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2009. She ended her career with an average of more than 40 in both Tests and ODIs. In Tests, she finished with 18 catches. In ODIs, she had 41 catches and five stumpings. Finally, in T20Is she had 12 catches and two stumpings.
Of course, this is not the first time our cricketers have bagged ICC glory. Yet, this is an achievement to be noted by Indians and cricket enthusiasts alike. What do you think about this exciting news?