Rahul Dravid Inducted Into ICC Hall of Fame: 15 Reasons Why He Deserves His Place!

In a moment long overdue, former Team India captain and one of the greatest batsman to ever play the game, Rahul Dravid, was inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. He was inducted along with another batting legend of the men’s game and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and recently retired England women’s wicketkeeper Claire Taylor.

Rahul Dravid becomes the fifth Indian to be inducted into this prestigious class of cricketers. The other four include Bishan Singh Bendi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble. Responding to the honour bestowed upon him Dravid said:

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“It is a matter of great honour to be named by the ICC in the Cricket Hall of Fame. 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 and the kind of recognition that would delight any player.”

For those wondering why Sachin Tendulkar hasn’t been included yet, one should look up the ICC’s criteria for inductees. According to ICC, only those players who haven’t featured in any international game in the five years prior to the nomination are included. The Little Master retired from all forms of the game on November 16, 2013, while Dravid announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012. Tendulkar will be eligible for nomination next year.

Here are 10 reasons why Dravid deserves to be in this hallowed list:

1. One of only seven batsmen in the history of cricket to have scored more than 10,000 runs in both the principal forms of international cricket – Tests and ODIs.

2. Third highest run-getter of all time in Test cricket with an aggregate of 13,288 runs from 164 matches at an average of 52.31 – behind only Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis

3. He holds the record for facing the highest number of balls and spending the most time at the crease than any other player in Test cricket history. In his 16-year Test cricket career, he faced 31,258 deliveries during his Test Career, spending 44,152 Minutes or 736 hours in the crease. Tendulkar follows Dravid with the most balls faced with 29,437. There is a reason why he’s called ‘The Wall’.

4. First batsman to have scored centuries in all 10 Test cricket playing nations.

Also Read: Rahul Dravid: A Toast To the Brilliant Mind Behind India’s U-19 Team

5. Holds the record for taking the most number of catches as a non-wicketkeeper in Test Cricket. He has taken 210 catches in 164 matches.

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6. Dravid has scored the second highest number of runs in Test cricket playing at No.3. He scored a total of 10524 runs in 219 Test innings at an impressive average of 52.88.

7. Only the second batsman after Mark Waugh to score consecutive hundreds in the World Cup

8. Highest run scorer in the 1999 World Cup with 461 runs

9. Only the third Indian (and sixth overall) to score more than 10,000 ODI runs

10. Only batsman involved in two ODI partnerships exceeding 300 runs.

11. As captain, he led India to its first overseas Test series victory (barring Zimbabwe) since 1986 – beating West Indies. Team India hadn’t won a Test series since 1971. He also became the third Indian captain after Ajit Wadekar and Kapil Dev to led India in a Test series in England.

12. Holds the record average for Indian batsman batting overseas (scoring over 1,000 runs outside the Indian subcontinent) with 54.58

13. Only Indian cricketer to score a hundred in four consecutive innings. He achieved this remarkable feat in 2012 with scores of 115, 148 and 217 against England followed by a 100* versus West Indies. The current world record is held by West Indian batsman Everton Weekes with five.

14. Hold the record of scoring the most runs in Test match partnerships with 32,039. He is also second behind West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul (750) with the second most number of partnerships in Test cricket with 738. His historical 376-run stand with VVS Laxman in Eden gardens versus Australia in 2000 and the 410-run stand with Virender Sehwag versus Pakistan in the 2006 Lahore Test are particular highlights.

15. Besides all the records, Rahul Dravid continues to serve Indian cricket in successfully nurturing future generations of cricketers as an excellent coach and mentor.

Congratulations, Rahul Dravid. This is absolutely well deserved.

(Edited By Vinayak Hegde)

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