ICC Hall of Fame: Virender Sehwag, Diana Edulji and Sri Lankan de Silva become latest inductees

With these 3 more additions, there will now be 112 cricketers to be on the ICC Hall of Fame list. Speaking of India, currently eight Indian cricketers hold the prestigious honour for their stellar achievements. They include: Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinoo Mankad, Diana Edulji, Virendra Sehwag.  

Coming back to ICC’s three new additions, it states that Sehwag had dynamism a destructive opener of the modern era holds a record that is still hard to match. He is the first Indian with a Triple century and has in fact scored two Triple Hundreds.

Throughout his remarkable career, Sehwag amassed 23 Test centuries, which ranks him seventh among Indian men’s players. His greatest score of 319 against South Africa in Chennai in 2008 was the highest of any Indian player in history. During the 2011 World Cup, he had contributed to India winning their second World Cup as of all the players, his 380 runs during the competition ranked eighth. In his career, he played 104 tests, 251 ODI and 19 T20s. 

As per ICC, Sehwag has played: 

104 Tests: 8,586 runs at an average of 49.34, 40 wickets

251 ODIs: 8,273 runs at an average of 35.05, 96 wickets

19 T20Is: 394 runs at an average of 21.88

Diana Edulji

With this prestige honour, Edulji has become the 1st Indian female inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. As per ICC statement, Edulji participated in three ICC Women’s Cricket World Cups, leading India as captain in 1978 and 1993, when she claimed 14 wickets. In her second Test match, she scored half century while eight years later, in Delhi, she had the greatest bowling stats of 6-64 against Australia.

Edulji took up the role of administrator with Western Railways and worked hard to create opportunities for employment for women cricketers, as stated by ANI. She also played an influential role in creating the sports policy of Western and Indian Railways.

Speaking of the Hall of Fame honour, Edulji said, “It indeed is a great honour to be the first Indian Women Cricketer to be inducted and join a galaxy of cricketers, male and female from across the world. I am delighted to be considered for this award. It’s not only a proud moment for me, my family and friends but also for BCCI and Indian Women’s Cricket,” as quoted by ICC.

Aravinda de Silva

The third inductee of the ICC Hall of Fame was a winner of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup with Sri Lanka in 1996. The Sri Lankan batter was known for his consistency, scoring 20 Test centuries during an 18-year international career which is the third most by any Sri Lanka men’s player. His expertise with the bat wasn’t limited in the red-ball format, in white-ball cricket he has 11 centuries to his name. In 93 Test matches, Silva scored 6,361 runs at an average of 42.97. Coming to ODIs, he featured in 308 games and scored 9,284 runs at an average of 34.90.

“I am filled with profound gratitude as I accept the immense honour of being inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. This achievement is a tribute to the dedication, sacrifice, and love that have shaped my cricketing journey,” he said as quoted by ICC.

(With inputs from ANI, PTI, ICC)

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Updated: 13 Nov 2023, 01:42 PM IST