Cook, Nitu, and de Villiers inducted into ICC hall of fame
The ICC launched the Hall of Fame in 2009 as part of its centenary celebrations. Last year, Diana Edulji became the first Indian woman cricketer to receive this honour. This year, following in her footsteps, former Indian left-arm spinner Nitu David has earned this rare accolade.
Alastair Cook, Nitu David, and AB de Villiers have received the highest recognition from the ICC for their outstanding contributions to cricket. The three former international stars have been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame for 2024. According to the official ICC announcement, Cook, Nitu, and de Villiers are the 113th, 114th, and 115th members of the Hall of Fame, respectively.
The ICC launched the Hall of Fame in 2009 as part of its centenary celebrations. Last year, Diana Edulji became the first Indian woman cricketer to receive this honour. This year, following in her footsteps, former Indian left-arm spinner Nitu David has earned this rare accolade.
Cook, Nitu, and de Villiers will be officially welcomed into the Hall of Fame at a special ceremony on Sunday during the Women's T20 World Cup final in Dubai.
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Nitu played for India between 1995 and 2008, featuring in 10 Test matches and 97 ODIs. She became the first Indian woman bowler to take 100 wickets in ODIs. Nitu gained recognition for taking the most wickets (20) in the 2005 Women's World Cup in South Africa. She took 41 wickets in Test matches and 141 in ODIs. Her best bowling figures in Tests, 8 wickets for 53 runs, remain the best in women's Test history.
Cook is regarded as one of the finest batsmen in Test cricket. He made his debut against India in 2006, scoring a century and a half-century in that match, signalling his arrival. With 12,473 runs in 161 Test matches for England, Cook led the rankings for some time before being surpassed by Joe Root recently. As captain, Cook led England to Ashes victories in 2013 and 2015 and put on a remarkable performance in Australia in the 2010-11 series.
AB de Villiers is a South African batting legend with over 20,000 runs across all three formats of international cricket. He still holds records for the fastest fifty, century, and 150 in ODI cricket. Known for his ability to play shots all around the field, de Villiers was nicknamed 'Mr 360 degrees.'
