SOUTHAMPTON, (United Kingdom): Pakistan batting great Zaheer Abbas, outstanding South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis and Australia women's star Lisa Sthalekar were all inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Zaheer, 73, a prolific run-scorer during the 1970s and 1980s with both Pakistan and English county side Gloucestershire, was nicknamed the 'Asian Bradman' in honour of Australia's Don Bradman, widely regarded as Test cricket's greatest batsman of all time.
"I feel privileged and truly humbled to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame of the class of 2020," said Zaheer, a former president of the global governing body and the only player from Asia to have scored a hundred first-class hundreds.
Zaheer scored a double-century and a century in the same first-class match on a record four occasions and was the first batsman to score three successive centuries in one-day international cricket.
"I would like to say a special thanks to my family, my country Pakistan, my county Gloucestershire and many fans worldwide who helped me achieve and fulfil my dreams by playing this great game at the highest level," he said.
"Thank you, ICC, and the members of the jury, for this special honour. It is a final recognition for any cricketer. This great game has made me the person I am."
Kallis, 44, is the only player to score at least 10,000 runs and take at least 250 wickets in both Test and ODI cricket.
The ICC player of the Year and ICC Test player of the year in 2005, Kallis is also South Africa's leading Test run-scorer, and currently third on the all-time list.
"It is something that I never expected when I started playing," said Kallis, the most capped South African player in both Test and ODI cricket. "I only wanted to win the games for whoever I was playing for."
India-born off-spinner Sthalekar, 41, was the first woman to achieve the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in ODI cricket.
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