Kumar Sangakkara, Vinoo Mankad among 10 icons inducted into ICC Hall of Fame ahead of WTC Final

Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, India great Vinoo Mankad, West Indies legend Desmond Haynes and Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower were among the 10 cricket icons who were inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame to celebrate the prestigious history of Test cricket and to coincide with the first-ever ICC World Test Championship Final.

The ICC added two players each from five eras, dating back to cricket’s early days in the special edition of inductees. Andy Flower became the first Zimbabwe cricketer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The inductees are Aubrey Faulkner of South Africa and Monty Noble of Australia for the early era (pre-1918), Sir Learie Constantine of West Indies and Stan McCabe of Australia for the inter-war Era (1918-1945), Ted Dexter of England and Vinoo Mankad of India for the post-war Era (1946-1970). Desmond Haynes of the West Indies and Bob Willis of England for the ODI era (1971-1995) and Andy Flower of Zimbabwe and Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka for the modern era (1996-2016).

Considered one of India’s greatest-ever all-rounders, Mankad played 44 Tests, scored 2,109 runs at 31.47, took 162 wickets at 32.32.

He was an opening batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler. His most famous feat was against England at Lord’s in 1952 when he scored 72 and 184 and bowled 97 overs in the match.

Sunil Gavaskar pays tribute to Vinoo Mankad
He is one of only three cricketers to have batted in every position during his Test career. Later, he also coached another legendary cricketer and fellow ICC Hall of Fame member from his country, Sunil Gavaskar in Mumbai.

On Mankad’s induction, Gavaskar said: “Vinoo Mankad’s legacy has been to tell the aspiring Indian cricketer to believe in oneself. He was a great proponent of self-belief.”

“He was the one who kept saying to me that you need to keep scoring runs and keep at it. When you get a 100, let that be the knock on the selector’s door. If it is unheard, then score that double hundred and let that knock be even louder.”

“You can have the best technique, but if you do not have the temperament to support it you will not succeed, you have to keep hanging in there and have that self-belief. That was the greatest lesson I learnt from him.”