Why Sachin Tendulkar was included in ICC Hall of Fame after Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble?

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday inducted Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar into Hall of Fame along with two other cricketers - South African pace legend Allan Donald and two-time World Cup-winning Australian woman cricketer Cathryn Fitzpatrick. Tendulkar became only the sixth Indian to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame after Bishen Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid.

In 2018, when ICC announce Dravid’s name for the ICC Hall of Fame, many questioned why Sachin was not chosen for the honour, who is hailed as ‘God of Cricket’ and has more records to his name than Dravid. While Dravid equally deserved the honour, several people started questioning the credibility of the award after not seeing Sachin’s name.

However, the ICC didn’t chose Dravid over Sachin. The reason why Dravid was awarded the ICC Hall of Fame award one year before Sachin was that he was not eligible then. As per the rules, only the players who have not played any international match for the last five years are eligible for the ICC Hall of Fame. And Sachin, who retired in November 2013, had not completed five years when Dravid was given the honour in July 2018.

RELATED

Three Indians, Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar were included in the list in 2009, the inaugural year of the ICC Hall of Fame. Anil Kumble, the legendary Indian bowler was included in the ICC Hall of Fame in 2015.

The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises "the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". As far as Sachin’s contribution to the cricket and his achievements are concerned, he owns most of the batting records.

In 463 ODIs, Sachin has scored 18426 runs, most by any player, at an average of 44.53 with 49 hundreds and 96 centuries. He was the first player to hit a double hundred in one day internationals. In 200 Tests that he played, Sachin scored 15921 runs at an average of 53.79 with 51 centuries and 68 half centuries. He is the only players to score 100 international centuries.