The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to send in the names of KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shikhar Dhawan for the Arjuna Award and at the same time, the veteran cricketers, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mithali Raj for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments confirmed the names of cricketers being recommended for the prestigious awards.
Explaining the same, the source close to the BCCI said, “We had a detailed discussion and it was decided to send in the names of Ashwin and women’s Test and ODI skipper Mithali’s name for the Khel Ratna. We are recommending Dhawan again for the Arjuna while we will also suggest the names of Rahul and Bumrah.”
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The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had earlier decided to extend the last date of submission of applications for the upcoming National Sports Awards 2021. Earlier, the last date to submit the applications was June 21.
The nominations/applications from the eligible sportspersons/ coaches/ entities/ universities were invited for the award and they were to be e-mailed as per an official statement from the ministry.
Manika Batra, Rohit Sharma, Vinesh Phogat, Rani Rampal, and Mariyappan Phangavelu were awarded the Khel Ratna Award last year and it was the first time that five athletes received the honor in the same year.
Besides, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has recommended the name of the Indian skipper, Sunil Chhetri, and the Odisha government nominated ace sprinter Dutee Chand for the Khel Ratna Award. Apart from Dutee, the Odisha government also sent five other recommendations to the sports ministry.
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Rohit Sharma was among five recipients who were awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2020. He was the fourth cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli to be honored with the award last year.
