London, April 6 (IANS) Former India captain M.S. Dhoni, his teammates Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh along with women internationals Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami were on Wednesday awarded the Honorary Life Membership of the prestigious Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

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. The custodians of the game's rules have also picked England's World Cup-winning captain Eion Morgan and Kevin Pietersen, South African Dale Stein and New Zealand's Ross Taylor among the honorary life members.

Pakistan's former all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez and Bangladesh's Mashrafe Mortaza were also included in the list released by the MCC on Wednesday.

"MCC awards Honorary Life Membership of the Club to some of the world's finest cricketers. We can now reveal the names of the latest men and women to have been bestowed with this privilege," the MCC said in a tweet on Wednesday.

The Club has also awarded a further two Honorary Life Memberships for non-playing contributions to the game. 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.

MCC's Cricket committee considers the nomination of cricketers for Honorary Life Membership, recognising the outstanding international careers of some of the greats of the game. Honorary Life Membership is also awarded to individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to MCC or the game in general.

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," he added.

"We are also pleased to be able to announce two individuals who have been awarded this honour for their monumental contributions off the pitch," Lavender said.

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