Former India skipper Rahul Dravid, Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, and England woman wicketkeeper-batter Claire Taylor have now been included in the ICC Hall of Fame during a glittering ceremony in Dublin on Sunday. Dravid became the fifth Indian cricketer to be inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame while Ponting is the 25th from Australia to do so. Taylor is the seventh woman cricketer and the third from England to be named in the list.
Speaking on the occasion, Dravid said: “It is a matter of great honor to be named by the ICC in the Cricket Hall of Fame. To find your honor 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’m 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.”
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Ponting also took pride of being a part of the Hall of Fame after representing Australia over the years. He said, “I feel deeply honored to be recognized by the ICC in this way. I loved every moment of my journey as a player and am so very proud of the team and personal achievements along the way. These would not have been possible without the help of so many people including my teammates, coaches and support staff that played such an integral part in my playing career. I would like to especially thank my family for their constant support and direction. Honors like this are just as much for them as it is for me.”
Taylor also expressed her feeling of being honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside players she looked up to during her playing career. She said, “It’s a great honor to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame alongside some of the greatest names of the men’s and women’s game from across the world and throughout the generations, players who I looked up to during my playing career and hold in great esteem. I would like to thank everyone who helped me achieve my dreams of success with England, particularly my parents for their support from my early days in the game, Mark Lane for his coaching wisdom, the ECB for their support of the national team, my team-mates and support staff and my colleagues at SUMS Consulting, for their flexibility and confidence that I could deliver success both on and off the field over the last five years of my international cricket career.”
Dravid and Ponting are one of the few batsmen to score more than 10,000 Test runs in Tests and ODIs. Dravid aggregated 13,288 runs in 164 Tests with 36 centuries and 10,889 runs in 344 ODIs with 12 centuries and was in 2004 named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year as well as the ICC Test Player of the Year. Dravid has always been known as a brilliant slip fielder as he took as many as 210 catches in his Test career, which is a world record.
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Ponting too ended his career in 2012, amassing 13,378 runs in 168 Tests with 41 centuries and 13,704 runs in 325 ODIs with 30 centuries. Named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2006 and 2007 and as the ICC Test Player of the Year in 2006, Ponting reached four ICC Cricket World Cup finals, winning in 1999, 2003 and 2007. He led the most dominating Australian squad and registered a record of winning 26 successive unbeaten ICC Cricket World Cup matches from 2003 to 2011 and led the team to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and 2009.
Taylor, who scored 103 runs in 15 Tests, 4,101 runs in 126 ODIs and 615 runs in 21 T20Is, was named the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2009. She was named the player of the tournament in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 and in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2009. She ended her career with an average of more than 40 in both Tests and ODIs. In Tests, she finished with 18 catches, In ODIs, she had 41 catches and five stumpings and in T20Is she had 12 catches and two stumpings.
