ICC Hall of Fame 2018: Rahul Dravid is fifth Indian cricketer in list that does not feature Sachin Tendulkar

ICC Hall of Fame: In a great news for Indian Cricket, "The Wall" Rahul Dravid has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame for his stupendous achievements throughout the illustrious career in international cricket.

ICC Hall of Fame 2018: Rahul Dravid is fifth Indian cricketer in list that does not feature Sachin Tendulkar

ICC Hall of Fame: In a great news for Indian Cricket, “The Wall” Rahul Dravid has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame for his stupendous achievements throughout the illustrious career in international cricket. The former gritty number 3 of Indian Test team is only the fifth cricketer from India to be named in the august panel. The other four Indians are former captains Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble. But the most suprising name missing from the list is Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar holds the distinguised records of the highest run scorer in both Test and ODI. Apart from this the “little master”, who earned praise from Sir Donald Bradman, amassed highest number of centuries in Test and ODI. Sachin is also the numero uno run scorer in the ICC Cricket World Cup history.

So when ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said, “The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame is our way of honouring the greats of our game. Only the very best players in the world are recognised for their contribution to cricket in this way…”, one wonders what else Sachin could have done to feature in the elite list. Such lists will definitely come out in the future and cricket fans will eagerly await for induction of the legendary “number 10” of Indian cricket to be up there with the very best.

But this takes nothing away from Dravid – Indian cricket’s go-to man for all wickets, conditions. “It’s a real honour and privilege to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame and be in the company of some of my heroes. Thank you to everyone for the support throughout my career,” Dravid said in his typically calm demeanour. The former Indian Captain also said, “…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.”

“I am thankful to my near and dear ones as well as players I have played with and against, coaches and officials who have backed me over the years and helped me develop as a cricketer. I would also like to thank the KSCA and the BCCI for all the support over the years and the ICC for recognizing my achievements and picking me in this group of Hall of Fame inductees,” Dravid was quoted as saying by ICC media release.

The right-hand batsman from Karnataka had scored a whopping 13,288 runs in 164 Tests with 36 centuries and 10,889 runs in 344 ODIs with 12 centuries.