Dhoni, Amla and Graeme Smith added to ICC Hall of Fame

LONDON: India´s Mahendra Singh Dhoni and South Africa´s Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith were among seven new inductees into the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame announced Monday.

Also included were Australia´s Matthew Hayden and New Zealand´s Daniel Vettori, with former Pakistan captain Sana Mir and England´s Sarah Taylor recognised for their contributions to the women´s game.

The induction ceremony took place at London´s Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded many of their hit songs. Abbey Road is just a short walk from Lord´s, where the World Test Championship final starts on Wednesday and both captains were among the audience - Australia´s Pat Cummins and South Africa´s Temba Bavuma.

Former India captain Dhoni led his country to 2011 one-day international World Cup glory on home soil, the wicketkeeper-batsman hitting the winning runs on a memorable night in Mumbai.

He is also the only captain to have won all three ICC white-ball trophies, after skippering India to the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup title as well as the 2013 Champions Trophy. Dhoni finished his ODI career with an average above 50, having played 350 matches and scored over 10,000 runs -- often expertly helming a run-chase.

“It is an honour to be named in the ICC Hall of Fame, which recognises the contributions of cricketers across generations and from all over the world,” said Dhoni, who featured in this year´s Indian Premier League aged 43.

The stylish Amla was the first South Africa batsman to score a Test-match triple century, making 311 not out against England at the Oval in 2012. He often found himself playing alongside Smith.

Thrust into the captaincy aged just 22, Smith led South Africa in a world-record 109 Tests, with the former opening batsman the only player to captain a Test team for over 100 matches. “It is an honour to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, especially alongside Graeme,” Amla said.

Smith added: “This is also a proud moment for South Africa, as two of us have got recognition this year.” Hayden was a mainstay of Australia´s dominant sides of the early 2000s, with the powerful opener scoring 30 Test centuries and averaging above 50.

Former left-arm spinner Vettori, now an assistant coach with Australia, is one of only three players to score 4,000 runs and take 300 wickets in Tests. Wicket-keeping great Taylor helped England win several global titles, including a 2017 ODI World Cup on home soil, while Mir is the first woman from Pakistan to be included in the Hall of Fame. Off-spinner Mir took 151 ODI wickets and led Pakistan to two Asian Games gold medals, in 2010 and 2014.

“From dreaming as a little girl that one day there would even be a women´s team in our country to now standing here, inducted among the very legends I idolised long before I ever held a bat or a ball -- this is a moment I couldn´t have dared to imagine,” Mir said.