Sachin Tendulkar inducted into ICC Hall of Fame, 6th Indian to join prestigious group

Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday became the latest cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

With this, he has become sixth Indian after Bishan Singh Bedi (2009), Sunil Gavaskar (2009), Kapil Dev (2009), Anil Kumble (2015), Rahul Dravid (2018) to be inducted in the prestigious group.

“It is an honour to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, which cherishes the contribution of cricketers over generations. They have all contributed to the growth and popularity of the game and I am happy to have done my bit,” Tendulkar said.

“On this occasion, I would like to thank all of those who were by my side over a long international career. My parents, brother Ajit, and wife Anjali have been pillars of strength while I was lucky to have someone like coach Ramakant Achrekar as an early guide and mentor.”

“I am also thankful to all my captains, fellow players and the BCCI and the MCA administrators over the years for their support and for making me enjoy the game so much and for so long. I thank the ICC for this appreciation of my cricket career and I am happy to note that cricket continues to grow with three popular formats,” he added.

Tendulkar, widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of his generation, holds several records in both Test and ODI formats.

Highest run-scorer in the history of Test cricket ✅
Highest run-scorer in the history of ODI cricket ✅
Scorer of 100 international centuries ?

The term ‘legend’ doesn’t do him justice. @sachin_rt is the latest inductee into the ICC Hall Of Fame.#ICCHallOfFame pic.twitter.com/AlXXlTP0g7

— ICC (@ICC) July 18, 2019

He is currently the highest run-scorer in the history of Test (15,921) and ODI (18,426) cricket and holds the record for 100 international centuries.

He aggregated 34,357 runs across formats, which is more than 6,000 runs ahead of the second-placed former Sri Lanka cricketer Kumar Sangakkara.

The 46-year-old made his debut for India at the age of 16. Since then, he has been one of the most prolific batsmen in the history of the sport and set the standard extremely high for the modern-day cricketers.

The master blaster, who made his Ranji Trophy debut during the 1988-89 season, scored a century for Mumbai on his debut against Gujarat at the age of 15. He finished as his side’s top-scorer for the season.

Soon after, he received his maiden Test call-up for India’s tour to Pakistan in November 1989. At the age of 37, Tendulkar played his final World Cup, which the Indian team won after a gap of 28 years.

By defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets at home, Tendulkar thus became a member of the World Cup-winning team and he ended up becoming India’s leading run-scorer and second overall at the tournament.

He retired from the 50-over format in 2012 and scored his hundredth century in his second last match. The Mumbai-born right-hand batsman last featured in Test against West Indies at home in November 2013, which was his 200th match.

Since his retirement, Tendulkar has made appearances at ICC events as an ambassador of various tournaments including the 2015 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and the 2017 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Tendulkar has also been serving as a mentor to the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Apart from Tendulkar, South African pace legend Allan Donald and two-time World Cup-winning Australian woman cricketer Cathryn Fitzpatrick were inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame this year.

The 52-year-old Donald is one of the finest bowlers to have played the game and had 330 Test and 272 ODI wickets to his credit before calling it quits in 2003.

Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, is the second-highest wicket-taker of all time in women’s cricket with 180 ODI scalps and 60 in Tests. As a coach, she guided the Australian women’s team to three World Cup titles. She is the eighth woman to win the award.

A ? with the three ICC Hall of Fame inductees ? #ICCHallOfFame pic.twitter.com/cXnL1Ln6W2

— ICC (@ICC) July 18, 2019