Sachin Tendulkar Inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame

ICC Hall of Fame Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is a name that needs no introduction.  He is arguably one of the most celebrated and greatest cricket icons the game has ever known. Precise strokes, perfect balance and genius movement is what defined him. Though he did not have a signature shot, he made all the orthodox shots his own, by improvising them in a way that only he could. Tendulkar’s game had no visible signs of weakness. Be it tuning his technique according to the situation or playing both off foot and back around the wicket, he had it all. His performances against Australia were some of his finest.  He was only 19 when he scored that unforgettable century at WACA, the best innings ever played in Australia. He made his Test debut at a very young age, he was only 16. His first test hundred came at an age of seventeen at Old Trafford, and he already had sixteen test hundreds to his name before he turned twenty five. He became the first batsman to score to fifty international hundreds in two thousand. And soon he went past thirteen thousand test runs; fifty test hundred and thirty thousand international runs. Even though he did not score his first ODI hundred, because of his prowess he currently holds the record for most hundreds in both test and ODI’s. At thirty six years of age he scored the first double century in one day cricket, thus breaking a forty year old obstacle. After a glorious career he retired from test cricket on November 2013 but still remains one of the most worshipped cricketers of the world.

The ICC Cricket Hall Of Fame launched in association with the Federation of Cricketers Association (FICA) on second January 2009. It was a part of ICC centenary celebration. This Hall of Fame honors the stalwarts of crickets’ elaborate and celebrated history. Throughout the cricket calendar induction ceremony takes place where the inductees are presented with a commemorative ICC Hall of Fame Cap. To be included in the Hall of Fame, as per ICC guidelines a player is required to be retired internationally for at least five years. The leading members of this glorious association are also very actively involved in the inclusion process of fresh intake of legends to bestow upon this honor, each year. The list of some of the famous Indian personalities in the ICC Hall of Fame apart from Sachin Tendulkar is Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. All these cricketers had an illustrious career that overwhelmed the Indian audiences at different junctures with appealing records that still holds good in the history of Indian cricket. They had not only played with sincerity and dedication for the country but had created a pleasing performance that still is afresh in all the cricket lovers memories. These personalities will always remain as the guide for the all the future Indian promising and uprising cricket fraternities that are in process of being created and are already in the making.

Last Sunday night, London witnessed a very proud moment for Indians and cricket fans all over the world, as Sachin Tendulkar, “The Master Blaster” himself got inducted in the prestigious ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, becoming the sixth Indian to earn this title. While receiving the title, the living legend said it was a “huge honor” for him. As the world witnessed this event, whole of India’s cricket fraternity got honored alongside him. Given what he has achieved in his career span, in a way that only he could have, this was bound to happen sooner or later. Tendulkar, throughout his career has given to the world of cricket more than he has earned and fellow cricketers, national and international agree on the same. Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha, former cricketer turned parliamentarian Gautam Gambhir, Veteran Zimbabwe cricketer Brendan Taylor are some of the names of the cricketing world who came forward to congratulate Tendulkar on adding “another feather on his decorated cap” . Gautam Gambhir even said that the legend deserved this honor, much earlier in his career, given the phenomenal achievements he received at such early stages of his career. With honors like the Arjuna Award (1994), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (1997), the Padma Shri (1999), the Padma Vibhushan (2008), being a part of this “decorated cap”, we can all agree that the coveted ICC Cricket Hall of Fame was only a matter of time.

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