The ICC Hall of Fame is an elite group of international cricketers who have served the sport on and off the field, with new additions made every year. This year, three such legends of the game have been added to the list, taking the number of members to 112.

The three new additions to the ICC Hall of Fame, forming the Class of 2023, are Virender Sehwag and Diana Edulji from India, and Aravinda de Silva from Sri Lanka.

The selections were made following a voting process where the existing ICC Hall of Famers, media representatives, and senior executives from the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) and the ICC participated.

Sehwag, who has more than 8,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs, played a crucial role in India’s 2011 World Cup triumph, scoring 380 runs in the tournament. He is the first Indian cricketer to score a triple century in Tests and only one of four players in the world to have done it twice. Sehwag also has more than 100 international wickets to his name and was useful with his part-time off-spin.

Aravinda de Silva had a long 19-year-old international career over the course of which he amassed more than 9,000 runs in ODIs and more than 6,000 runs in Tests. De Silva’s most memorable international performance came in the final of the 1996 men’s World Cup where he scored an unbeaten hundred to take Sri Lanka to their first World Cup title.

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Diana Edulji is the first Indian female cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Her on-field career lasted 17 years where she 20 Tests and 34 ODIs and picked more than 100 wickets with her slow left-arm orthodox across formats. However, it is in her administrative work after her playing career where she arguably had a greater impact on women’s cricket in India, leading to greater opportunities for female cricketers in the country.

All three new inductees to the ICC Hall of Fame were grateful for the honour.

Sehwag said, “I would like to thank the ICC and the jury for inducting me with this honour. I feel extremely grateful for having spent a great part of my life doing what I loved most, ‘hitting the cricket ball’.

Edulji expressed gratitude for being the first female cricketer from India to be inducted into the Hall of Fame: “At the outset, I would like to thank the ICC and the Jury for having selected me to be inducted in the ICC Hall Of Fame 2023. It indeed is a great honour to be the First Indian Women Cricketer to be inducted and join a galaxy of cricketers, male and female from across the world. I am delighted to be considered for this award.”

De Silva expressed similar sentiments, saying, “I am filled with profound gratitude as I accept the immense honour of being inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. This achievement is a tribute to the dedication, sacrifice, and love that have shaped my cricketing journey.”