Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the administrative body for cricket in the country, has recommended the as many as four names for the coveted Arjuna Award. The lists comprise of the players like Poonam Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. The honor is bestowed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India recognizing outstanding achievement by the sportspersons in the country.

The announcement was made on Saturday (April 27) when the Committee of Administrators (CoA) had a meeting in New Delhi. Last year, BCCI had recommended the name of Shikhar Dhawan, but he wasn’t shortlisted by the awards panel and he doesn’t feature among the choices this year.

ALSO READ: Actual Net Worth Of MS Dhoni Revealed?

Speaking about Poonam’s recommendation, a BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI, “There was no other deserving candidate, to be honest. Most of the senior players have already got the award while it is still early days for the youngsters even though they have done well at the global stage.”

In 2018, Bumrah has taken 48 wickets in just 9 Tests after making his Test debut in South Africa in 2018. He is expected to be one of the lethal threats for opposition teams at the 2019 World Cup. Meanwhile, Shami also made a comeback to the limited-overs side earlier this year. With some consistent performances, the right-arm fast bowler has made the 15-member World Cup squad.

 Jadeja also witnessed a similar comeback into the ODI squad and has bagged a ticket to England for the 2019 World Cup. He is among the top 10 in both the bowler and the all-rounder’s rankings in Test cricket. Poonam has also been a consistent performer for the Indian women’s cricket team. She is among the top 10 bowlers in women’s cricket.