Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards nominations from BCCI and Hockey India
From Cricket
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated Rohit Sharma for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2020 while Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Deepti Sharma have been nominated for Arjuna Awards.
The Government of India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had sought invitations for the respective awards with the period of consideration beginning 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2019.
Rohit Sharma, Team India’s vice-captain in the white-ball format has been a prolific run-getter. Named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2019, the stylish opener became the first player in the history of the game to score five ODI centuries in one edition of the World Cup.
Shikhar Dhawan holds the record for the fastest Test century on debut and is the only batsman in the world to have won two consecutive golden bats (for most runs) in the ICC Champions Trophy.
The youngest Indian to play all three formats of the game, Ishant Sharma has been leading the Indian pace bowling attack and holds the record for most wickets by an Indian pacer outside Asia.
A top-class all-rounder, Deepti Sharma holds the record for the highest individual WODI score by an Indian player and is also the only Indian spinner to take 6 WODI wickets.
From Hockey
Hockey India has announced the nomination of Indian Women's Hockey Team Captain Rani for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award while her compatriots Vandana Katariya, Monika and Harmanpreet Singh have been nominated for the Arjuna Award.
Rani has led the Indian Women's Hockey Team to historic victories in the Women's Asia Cup in 2017, Silver at the 2018 Asian Games and played a critical role in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 by scoring the deciding goal that helped in India's qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. First from India to be named as the World Games Athlete of The Year 2019, Rani has also been the recipient of the Arjuna Award in 2016 and the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2020.
Hockey India pays tribute to legend Balbir Singh Sr
Hockey India expressed their deepest condolences on the sad demise of Hockey Legend Balbir Singh Sr who breathed his last on Monday morning in Mohali. The triple Olympic Champion and World Cup-winning Team Manager had been battling for life since 8 May 2020 when he was hospitalised.
Balbir Sr was the most decorated athlete in Indian sports history with Olympic medals in 1948, 1952 and 1956 Summer Games. He coached the Indian team which won the Bronze Medal at the 1971 World Cup and was Manager of the Indian team that won the Gold Medal at the 1975 World Cup. He had scored five goals in India's 6-1 victory over the Netherlands in the Gold medal match of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Under his Captaincy, India scored 38 goals and conceded none on its way to the Gold medal in 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
For Balbir Sr's stellar contribution to the game, Balbir Sr was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour in 1957 and was conferred with the Major Dhyan Chand Life Time Achievement Award by Hockey India in 2014. Balbir Sr also became the only Asian male and only Indian among 16 athletes to be chosen as "Iconic Olympians" by the International Olympic Committee across the modern Olympics' history.
- TIN Bureau