It was a wonderful day for Cricket when one of its greatest got one of the highest possible recognition on the world stage, as Rahul Dravid got inducted into the prestigious ICC Hall of Fame. The great man became only the fifth Indian to be a part of the club that is already enriched with the presence of other veterans and more specifically legends like Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble. 

Everyone felt happy for Rahul who played the game like it was supposed to be. But, one of the things that immediately came to mind on that day is why hasn't India's greatest ever made it to the list yet? Why has Sachin Tendulkar not yet made it to the ICC Hall of Fame?

To understand and answer that today, it is important to know the rules that are in place by the International Cricket Council that makes a player eligible for it. 

According to ICC rules for Hall of Fame, a batsman can qualify for the ICC Hall of Fame only if he has scored more than 8000 and 20 hundreds in any of the two major formats-Tests and One-Day Internationals or have an average of over 50 in either.

With 18,426 runs ODIs and 15,921 runs in Tests, Sachin comfortably fits into this criteria. The Kohinoor of world cricket has also amassed 51 and 49 hundreds in Tests and ODI respectively, so he is far more ahead to be eligible in this regard. Then why? For that let's focus on other important criteria. 

Another rule of ICC Hall of Fame says that only those players who haven’t played any international game of cricket in five years prior to the nomination can be included in the elite list. This is where Rahul Dravid who retired in March 2012 has been inducted into the Hall of Fame ahead of Sachin Tendulkar who announced his retirement in November 2013. 

This is why Sachin Tendulkar, who is likely to be inducted the moment he becomes eligible, has not yet made it to the ICC Hall of Fame.