The Indian skipper Virat Kohli along with world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu was jointly recommended for the country’s highest sporting honor – the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Monday. After Sachin Tendulkar (1997) and MS Dhoni (2007), Kohli will become the third Indian cricketer to receive the award once the sports ministry officially accepts the committee’s recommendation.
Talking about the same, one of the sources of PTI said, “Yes, Virat Kohli and Mirabai Chanu’s names have been recommended by the awards committee.” Khel Ratna is awarded for “spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports over a period of four years” at international level.
The nominations for a given year are accepted till 30 April or last working day of April with not more than two sportspersons nominated for each sports discipline. A twelve-member committee will evaluate the performances of a sportsperson at various International events. The committee later submits their recommendations to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval.
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Kohli, the world’s No.1 Test batsman as per the ICC rankings, has been enjoying a purple patch in his career for the past three years and missed out despite nominations in the years 2016 and 2017. He currently has 6147 runs in 71 Tests with 23 centuries and 9779 runs in 211 ODIs, including 35 tons.
With a combined 58 centuries in international cricket, he is only second to Sachin Tendulkar (100) in the list of century-scorers in India. The BCCI has been nominating Kohli for the Khel Ratna for the past three years but in 2016, it was given to Sakshi Malik, PV Sindhu and Deepa Karmakar for their good show at the Rio Olympic Games.
Last year, the Khel Ratna was awarded to former India hockey captain Sardar Singh and para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia. Virat is one of those rare sportspersons, who has received Padma Shri award (2017) before Khel Ratna. This year, he was a favorite after having led India to victories against England and Australia at home and away wins against West Indies and Sri Lanka. The Indian team has also won limited-overs series in South Africa under Kohli’s leadership.
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Kohli is a member of the 2011 ICC World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy winning team. He also led the team to the finals of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. He has also been the recipient of ICC’s ‘ODI Cricketer of the Year’ in 2012 and 2017 along with the sport’s highest honor — the ICC Cricketer of the Year. He has won the Indian Cricketer of the Year on five occasions.
Virat ended the recent England series with a phenomenal tally of 593 runs even though it was not considered in the selection cycle. For Chanu, the award comes as a massive morale-booster as she is currently recovering from a lower back injury, which forced her to skip the Asian Games in Jakarta.
