Legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, Pakistan batting great Zaheer Abbas, and Pune-born former Australian captain Lisa Sthalekar were on Sunday inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. The ceremony, this year was conducted virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic and was broadcast around the world via ICC digital channels.

The show was hosted by commentator Alan Wilkins and featured retired greats Sunil Gavaskar, Melanie Jones and Shaun Pollock as the main guests. Wasim Akram, Graeme Smith and Alyssa Healy also joined in to congratulate the 2020 inductees.

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Kallis is the fourth South African player to enter the Hall of fame. Considered to be one of the finest all-rounders he had represented South Africa in 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20s between 1995 and 2014. He is South Africa’s highest run-getter in Tests and ODIs with 13289 and 11579 runs respectively. 

“It’s a great honour to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. It is something that I never expected when I started playing,” Kallis said.

Lisa Sthalekar is the 27th cricketer from Australia and the ninth woman player to be inducted to the list. She has represented Australia in eight Tests, 125 ODIs and 54 T20s.

“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,” Gavaskar said, praising Lisa. She is the first woman to achieve the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in ODI cricket

Dubbed as Asian Bradman, Pakisthan cricketer Abbas has played 78 Tests and 62 ODIs. He is the only player from Asia to have scored at least 100 first-class hundreds.

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“Absolutely delighted. No one deserves it more than him. Don’t know why it took so long but better late than ever. When you saw him bat, even when it was your team’s expense, you enjoyed his batting,” Gavaskar said about Abbas.

In total, 93 players feature in the Hall of fame, which sees retired players become eligible five years after playing their last international match.