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The International Cricket Council (ICC) recently inducted 10 players into its Hall of Fame, including the great Indian all-rounder Mulvantrai Himmatlal Mankad, better known as Vinoo Mankad.  

Mankad became the seventh Indian cricketer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Bishan Singh Bedi.

Mankad, who died in 1978, played 44 Test matches for India from 1946 to 1959. He scored 2,109 runs at an average of 31.47 with five centuries and six fifties. He also picked up 162 wickets with his left-arm spin at an average of 32.32, with 8 five-wicket innings hauls and two ten-wicket match hauls.

His first-class career stretched from 1935-36 to 1961-62, during which he scored 11,591 runs from 233 games at an average of 34.70, with 26 centuries and 52 fifties. He took 782 first-class wickets at an average of 24.53, with 38 five-fors and nine ten-fors.

His son Ashok went on to play for India, while two other sons, Rahul and Atul, also played first-class cricket.

At Lord’s against England in 1952, Mankad made 72 and 184, and also took five wickets in the first innings from a marathon 73 overs. He bowled another 24 overs in the second innings, conceding just 35 runs. The match came to be known as ‘Mankad’s Test’.

In his previous Test, also against England, he had taken 8/55 and 4/53 in Madras (now Chennai) to give India their first-ever Test win.

In 1956, also in Madras, he made 231, his highest score, against New Zealand in a record opening partnership of 413 with Pankaj Roy, who made 173. 

The record stood for 52 years until South Africa openers Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith put on 415 against Bangladesh in Chittagong (now Chattogram) in 2008. In the same series against New Zealand, Mankad had also scored 223 in Bombay (now Mumbai).

Indian cricketers in ICC Hall of Fame

Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar were the first Indians to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2009, the year in which the recognition was launched.

Left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi, who was a part of the famed Indian spin quartet, played 67 Test matches for his country and picked 266 wickets. He also captained the Indian cricket team in 22 Test matches.

Kapil Dev is considered one the greatest all-rounders of all time, and the best India has produced. He scored 5,248 runs and picked up 434 Test wickets, which stood as a record. In ODIs, he scored 3,783 runs and scalped 253 wickets, and led India to victory in the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

Sunil Gavaskar, meanwhile, at one time held the record for the most runs scored and most centuries in Test cricket with 10,122 and 34, respectively. In fact, he was the first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs. His record for most Test centuries stood for about two decades.

The country’s all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests Anil Kumble was the next Indian to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2015. Kumble took 619 Test wickets and famously entered the record books by completing a perfect 10-wicket haul in an inning of a Test match against Pakistan in 1999. He also scored a Test ton against England and had 337 scalps in ODIs.

Kumble’s Karnataka and India teammate Rahul Dravid was inducted into the Hall of Fame three years later. Affectionately known as the Wall, Kumble scored 13,288 Test runs at an impressive average of 52.31 for India. A versatile player, he was also a wicket-keeper for India in ODIs for a few years and made 10,889 runs at an average of 39.16 in the 50-over format.

Prior to Mankad’s induction, cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar was the last Indian to enter the ICC Hall of Fame in 2019. Arguably the best player to have played cricket, Tendulkar made an unprecedented 100 international centuries before retiring. He scored 15,921 Test runs at an average of 53.78 and made 18,426 runs at an average of 44.83 in ODIs. He was also the first player to score 200 in a single inning in ODIs and took 201 international wickets.

Complete list of Indians in ICC hall of fame

Bishan Singh Bedi

Kapil Dev

Sunil Gavaskar

Anil Kumble

Rahul Dravid

Sachin Tendulkar

Vinoo Mankad

Featured photo: AFP / John Macdougall

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