The Indian deputy skipper in ODIs and T20Is, Rohit Sharma on Saturday went on to dedicate his Khel Ratna award to all his fans for their unwavering support, saying this “wouldn’t have been possible” without them. Rohit, along with paddler Manika Batra, women’s hockey skipper, Rani Rampal, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and para-athlete T Mariyappan were this year’s awardees for receiving country’s highest sporting honor.

In the video uploaded on his Twitter account, Rohit captioned, “It’s been a wonderful ride and to receive such a sporting honour is a great privilege and I am very happy about it and I owe this to you all. Without your support, it wouldn’t have been possible”.

Thank you for all your wishes and lots of love. pic.twitter.com/vbKaTbfwd7

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) August 22, 2020

Rohit has become the fourth cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli to receive the prestigious award.

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In the video, Rohit can be heard saying, “Keep supporting and I promise to bring much more laurels for the country. “Since we are practicing social distancing, a virtual hug from me to all of you guys.” Last year, he had smashed as many as five centuries in a single ODI World Cup during the 2019 edition in England.

National Sports Awards which include the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the Arjuna award, the Dronacharya award, and the Dhyan Chand Award, which have been received by the athletes every year by the President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 29, the National Sports Day.

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However, this year, the names would be announced by President Ram Nath Kovind virtually due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As per the sources of ANI, the sports ministry said, “The ceremony will take place virtually but what we will have to see how the exact process would pan out.”