India’s limited-overs vice-captain, Rohit Sharma has been nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2020, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced in a press release on Saturday. Moreover, Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Deepti Sharma have been nominated for Arjuna Award. The Government of India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had opened invitations for the respective awards with the period of consideration beginning 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2019.
Rohit was India’s star performer at the 2019 ODI World Cup and was also named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for his unbelievable performance. Interestingly, the opening batsman also became the first player in the history of the game to score five ODI centuries in one edition of the World Cup.
Sharma also holds the record for scoring four T20I centuries and has two centuries in his maiden appearance as a Test opener.
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In the press release, BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly said, “We went through a lot of data and considered various parameters before shortlisting the nominees. Rohit Sharma has set new benchmarks as a batsman and achieved scores people thought were not possible in the shorter formats of the game. We feel he is worthy of getting the prestigious Khel Ratna award for his commitment, conduct, consistency and his leadership skills.”
Rohit Sharma’s limited-overs opening partner Shikhar Dhawan, the youngest Indian to play all three formats of the game Ishant Sharma and top-class all-rounder Deepti Sharma have been nominated for the Arjuna Award.
Dhawan holds the record for the fastest century on Test debut and is the only batsman in the world to have won two consecutive golden bats in the ICC Champions Trophy.
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Ishant has holds the record for most wickets by an Indian pacer outside Asia. Deepti holds the record for the highest individual ODI score by an Indian woman. She is also the only Indian woman spinner to take 6 ODI wickets.
