NEWS
Follow UsIndian cricket has suffered a major disappointment: not a single cricketer from the country was nominated for the National Sports Awards announced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
This would have especially disappointed Indian men’s cricket team in particular, as they won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2024. Meanwhile, former Arjuna Award winner Smriti Mandhana, who had a stellar year in international cricket and scored more runs than any batter worldwide, was also ignored for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honour in India.
The last Indian cricketer to be awarded a Khel Ratna was Mithali Raj, way back in 2021.
This year, the Ministry awarded the Khel Ratna award to Gukesh Dommaraju (Chess), Harmanpreet Singh (Hockey), Praveen Kumar (Para-athletics), and Manu Bhaker (Shooting). While Gukesh recently became the youngest FIDE World Chess Champion, the others are Olympic and Paralympic medalists.
Apart from the Khel Ratna award winners, 32 athletes from various sports have been selected for the Arjuna Award, the second-highest sporting honour in India.
In cricket, so far 48 athletes have been awarded the Arjuna Award, with Salim Durrani being its first recipient in 1961. Meanwhile, only 5 cricketers have been awarded the prestigious Khel Ratna. That includes Sachin Tendulkar in 1997/98, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is 2007, Virat Kohli in 2018, Rohit Sharma in 2020, and Raj in 2021.
