| Player: | BS Bedi, Kapil Dev, SM Gavaskar |
DateLine: 4th July 2009
Cricket's apex body The International Cricket Council's made it clear that more Indians would be added to the ICC's Hall of Fame.
India's representation in the list is limited to just three and that has generated a small controversy in the country but the game's governing body said that the list would be updated annually and would have an adequate Indian representation.
"This is not the final list. I do believe that a number of magnificent Indian cricketers deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. We will soon develop a mechanism and have plans to add more players to the list on an annual basis," ICC President David Morgan told a news agency in a telephonic interview from London.
Former captains Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev are the three Indians in the 55-strong list that includes 22 Englishmen, 11 Australians, 13 West Indians, three from Pakistan, two South Africans and a lone New Zealander.
The strange thing though is that not even one of former Sri Lanka greats do not feature in the list.
Morgan said when updated, the list would look balanced. "There would be balance among nations, on merit,"
The list also does not contain cricketers who have retired post-1995. Some of the former Indian greats who have gone missing from the list are C K Nayudu, Lala Amarnath, Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare, Vinoo Mankad, Polly Umrigar, Subash Gupte, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Gundappa Viswanath.
Morgan also said that India has never been a bully inside ICC and has tried arm-twisting the governing body because of its financial clout.
"I have never regarded India as a bully at the ICC. I refer to my experience with India at the ICC under the leadership of Mr. Dalmiya, Mr. Pawar and now Mr. Shashank Manohar. I do not accept that India acts in a bullying fashion," Morgan said.
