Arguably the best batsman India has produced, Sachin Tendulkar was inducted into the ICC Hall of fame on Thursday, July 19. The Master Blaster received the honour alongside legendary South African fast bowler Allan Donald and Australian women's cricket great Cathryn Fitzpatrick.
While this event has been welcomed by fans around the cricketing world, there are some who are wondering why it took cricket's governing body this long to bring the great man into the elite club of the best cricketers in World Cup history.
This question becomes even more relevant when one considers the fact that his former teammates Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble were inducted before him. But the reasons for the apparent delay in Tendulkar's arrival in the Hall of Fame are quite simple.
As per the rules of ICC, a player can only be brought into this esteemed congregation after five years after have elapsed since his retirement. As Anil Kumble had retired way back in 2008 and Rahul Dravid called it a day in 2012, they became eligible well before the Little Master. Since, Sachin's retirement had taken place in late 2013, he became eligible only late last year.
If we compare the amount of time the ICC took to induct all three players into this revered list of greats, it turns out that Sachin's arrival was expedited rather than being kept on hold. It took the man with 100 international hundreds just over 5 years to have his name put in the exalted category.
Compared to that, Kumble had to wait 10 years and The Wall six for getting admitted to this grouping. The Council understood the value of Sachin Tendulkar even after his retirement. They know that no cricketer would garner as much attention as the Master Blaster when gracing the Hall with his presence. Certainly, the reaction of the fans suggests that the fan following for the legendary cricketer from Mumbai is still intact.
