MS Dhoni, Mithali Raj among Indian cricketers honoured with MCC life membership

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodians of the Laws of cricket, bestowed honorary life membership on some of the game’s greatest men and women players. They announced 19 new Honorary Life Members on Wednesday, with eight of the twelve Test-playing nations representing the cohort.

Five Indian cricketers have been honoured with the MCC Honorary Life Membership. The list include Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Jhulan Goswami, and Mithali Raj. Dhoni and Yuvraj were key members of the team that won the 2007 and the 2011 World Cup. Suesh Raina has scored over 5,500 ODI runs in a remarkable 13-year career.

Women cricketer Goswami, who retired from international cricket in the Women’s One-Day International (ODI) against England at the Lord’s in 2022, is the leading wicket-taker in Women’s ODIs. Mithali, the former India skipper, leads the all-time run-scoring list with 7,805 runs in 211 innings.

New MCC life members

Eoin Morgan, Jenny Gunn, Laura Marsh, Anya Shrubsole, and Kevin Pietersen are the five English players to receive the honour. Gunn, Marsh, and Shrubsole all played in England’s Women’s ODI World Cup victory at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2017. Morgan led England to victory in the 2019 ICC Men’s World Cup at the same venue. Pietersen, a four-time Ashes winner, was named Player of the Tournament in England’s 2010 ICC Men’s World T20 victory.

Former West Indies keeper-batter Merissa Aguilleira, Bangladesh’s Mashrafe Mortaza, Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, and South African paceman Dale Steyn are also on the list. Many cricket experts consider Dale Steyn to be one of the best fast bowlers of his generation. He picked up 439 wickets in Test cricket. Rachael Haynes of Australia, who won six ICC tournaments and gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, and the Kiwi duo of Amy Satterthwaite and Ross Taylor round out the list.