Melbourne, Nov 8: Legendary West Indies batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pakistan’s iconic leg-spinner Abdul Qadir and England’s multi-time World Cup-winning skipper Charlotte Edwards were on Tuesday inducted into the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Hall of Fame, following a voting process that also included existing Hall of Famers and media representatives, among others.
The three newest inductees will be honoured in a special ceremony, which will take place prior to the start of play at the first semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 9.
“It’s an amazing honour to follow the footsteps of many legends and so many other great cricketers of the past. I’m grateful for the recognition and would like to enjoy the moment with family, friends and most importantly the West Indies cricket fans and fans around the world who passionately supported me throughout my career,” said Chanderpaul.
He made his debut at 19 years of age and quickly began to excel. He became the lynchpin of the West Indies batting line-up for over two decades. He scored 30 Test tons and eventually become the second West Indian to reach 10,000 Test runs. Chanderpaul also excelled in ODIs, amassing 8,778 runs in 268 outings. He is eighth on the list of all-time Test match run-getters and holds the record of seven half-centuries in consecutive Test innings.
Legendary Pakistan spinner Qadir passed away in 2019 at the age of 63, but his influence on global cricket is still felt strongly. He was labelled as the saviour of leg-spin bowling during the 1970s and 80s. Qadir’s 236 wickets spanning his 13-year career places him third in the list of Pakistan’s all-time prolific spinners. He mentored the likes of Mushtaq Ahmed, Danish Kaneria and Shahid Afridi, as well as Australia’s Shane Warne and South Africa’s Imran Tahir.
“On behalf of the family, I want to say thank you very much to the ICC for nominating my father for induction into the Hall of Fame. It is a very big honour for the family to hear of this news; we see it as a huge achievement, and one that my father would be very proud of if he was still with us today,” said Usman Qadir, son of Abdul.
Charlotte Edwards, in her 20-year international career, became one of the most significant players in the history of women’s cricket. Shsoon struck a world-record unbeaten 173 against Ireland in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in Pune. She became captain in 2006 and inspired England to numerous Ashes victories at home and away, as well as ICC crowns in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in Australia in 2009 and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England the same year. When she retired in 2016, she left as the leading female run-scorer in ODIs and T20Is.
“I would like to thank the ICC for this recognition of my career. It’s a massive honour to be included in the ICC Hall of Fame alongside the very illustrious company that has already been inducted. I’d like to thank and share this moment with my family and friends, my teammates and all of the coaches that have supported me throughout,” she said. (IANS)
