Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj, who played for India from 2002-2022 and from 1999-2022, respectively, have been made honorary life members of the Marylebone Cricket Club.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2004–2019), Suresh Raina (2005-2018) and Yuvraj Singh (2000-2017) are also included in a cohort of 19 new honorary life members announced on Wednesday in London.
An MCC spokesman told The Telegraph: “Honorary Life Membership is awarded to some of the finest men and women to have played the highest level of the game, and also awarded to individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to MCC or to the game in general.”
The winds of change have been blowing through the Long Room at Lord’s where women were barred entry for 212 years until March 16, 1999. Now, in the pursuit of gender equality, batsmen have become “batters”.
There is also a story, true or otherwise, that Sunil Gavaskar once threatened to reject the offer of MCC membership because a rude steward at Lord’s allegedly stopped him from entering the most famous cricket ground in the world after failing to recognise him. But all that is in the past.
The MCC said: “England and India each have five former players included on this year’s list, and players from Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies are represented. Eight of the 12 Test-playing nations are represented within this year’s list, which includes some of the most recognisable names in the modern game.”
Explaining the choices, the MCC added: “Jhulan Goswami, who bowed out from internationals in the England v India Women’s One-Day International at Lord’s last year, is the leading wicket-taker in Women’s ODIs whilst Mithali Raj heads the run-scoring list with 7,805 in 211 innings.
“M.S. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh were both integral parts of the India side which won the 2007 ICC Men’s World T20 and the 2011 ICC Men’s World Cup, and Suresh Raina scored over 5,500 ODI runs across a 13-year career.”
Of the others on this year’s list, it said: “Eoin Morgan lifted the ICC Men’s World Cup for England at Lord’s in 2019, two years after Jenny Gunn, Laura Marsh and Anya Shrubsole had helped England defeat India in the ICC Women’s World Cup Final at the same venue. Kevin Pietersen, who won the Ashes four times and was Player of the Tournament in England’s 2010 ICC Men’s World T20 win, completes the quintet of English players.”
Guy Lavender, Chief Executive & Secretary of MCC, said: “We are thrilled to be able to announce our newest cohort of Honorary Life Members of MCC, as we prepare for the new international summer.
“The names that have been announced today are some of the greatest international players of modern times, and we are privileged to now count them as valued Members of our Club.”
Founded in 1787, MCC is recognised as the sole authority on the game’s Laws. There are approximately 18,350 Full and 6,000 Associate Members of MCC.
The MCC gave The Telegraph the list of Indians who have been given honorary membership over the years: N.J. Contractor (1969); C.G. Borde (1981); F.M. Engineer (1981); B.S. Bedi (1982); B.S. Chandrasekhar (1982); E.A.S. Prasanna (1984); S. Venkataraghavan (1988); G.R. Viswanath (1990); M. Amarnath (1993); S.M. Gavaskar (1993); D.B. Vengsarkar (1993); Kapil Dev (1995); S.M.H. Kirmani (1995); R.J. Shastri (1995); K.S. More (1999); R. Dravid (2008); A. Kumble (2008); S.R. Tendulkar (2010); S.C. Ganguly (2015); Miss A. Chopra (2016); V. Sehwag (2016); Z. Khan (2016); V.V.S. Laxman (2017); Miss S.A Agrawal (2017); Miss G. Banerjee (2017); Miss D.F. Edulji (2017); Miss S. Gupta (2017); Miss S. Kulkarni (2017); Miss S. Rangaswamy (2017); Miss S. Shah (2017); J. Srinath (2021); and H. Singh (2021).
