5 Players who could be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame has been one of the most prestigious awards and recognizes the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history. This concept was introduced in the year 2009 with the induction of 55 great players of yesteryear.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid and Australian legend Ricky Ponting were recently inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame for their incredible contribution towards the game. Dravid was the fifth Indian player to join the elite list. ICC has laid down the criteria for each category.
For a batsman to qualify, he should have recorded at least 8,000 runs and 20 centuries in any of the two major formats (Tests and One-Day Internationals) or should average over 50 in either.
For the bowlers at least 200 wickets are required in any one of the formats, but their strike-rate in Tests should be 50 and 30 in ODIs. Wicket-keepers are also eligible if they have accounted for 200 dismissals in either or both the formats. For captains, he must have led his side in at least 25 Tests or 100 ODIs with a win percentage of 50 percent or more in either or both.
Based on the above criteria let us find out which players could make it to the elite list.
#5 Sourav Ganguly (India)
Sourav Ganguly was the shining light for team India after the match-fixing scandal in 1999. Under his leadership, the Indian team scaled new heights and also won matches on foreign soil. He also led the team into the World Cup finals in 2003 and were the joint winners in Champions Trophy 2002.
The Prince of Kolkata had captained the team in 49 Tests which they won 21 and lost 13 matches. In the ODI format, he led them in 147 matches out of which they won 76 with a healthy winning rate of 51.7 % which also satisfies one of the required criteria.
Besides captaincy, Ganguly was outstanding with the bat in ODIs scoring 11363 runs in 311 matches and also scored 22 centuries. In the Test, he scored over 7000 runs and had 16 centuries to his name.
Based on his ODI record both with the bat and captaincy he fulfills the criteria and could be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame soon.