Jaques Kallis, Zaheer Abbas, Lisa Sthalekar inducted into ICC Hall of Fame

By
Sukanya Adhikary
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Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has inducted Jaques Kallis, Zaheer Abbas and Lisa Sthalekar into the Hall Of Fame on Sunday through a virtual ceremony. The ceremony was attended by Shaun Pollock and the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. Kallis is the fourth South African player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and Abbas the sixth from Pakistan. Lisa is the 27th from Australia and the ninth women to be inducted in Hall of Fame, which includes five from Australia.

“It is something that I never expected when I started playing. I certainly did not play the game for any accolades or anything like that, I only wanted to win the games for whoever I was playing for,” Kallis said in an ICC release.

“But it is nice to be recognised when one has succeeded in the sport, it is nice to be recognised by people for something that you have achieved in the game, something that I am really proud of.”

Kallis represented South Africa in 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20s between 1995 and 2014, accumulating 13289 and 11579 runs in Tests and ODIs respectively. He is also the only player to score at least 10,000 runs and take at least 250 wickets in both Test and ODI cricket.

“It is good to have another ‘Kar’ in the ICC Hall of Fame. Well done. You are an inspiration, not just in Australia also in India (as she was born there),” Gavaskar said on Lisa.

“You have interacted with many cricketers in India including the junior cricketers. You have shown with your feistiness that women can play at the highest level.” “I am deeply humbled to receive this honour. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that I would ever get to join such an illustrious group of players,” Sthalekar said.

Sthalekar represented Australia in eight Tests, 125 ODIs and 54 T20s, scoring 2728 and 416 runs respectively. She is also the first woman to achieve the ODI double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets.

“I feel privileged and truly humbled to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame of the class of 2020. I am excited to be in the midst of other illustrious cricketers,” Abbas said in the ICC statement.

Zaheer Abbas played 78 Tests and 62 ODIs for Pakistan, scoring 5062 and 2572 runs respectively.

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