Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
Cricket captain Virat Kohli and Champion weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu were on Monday recommended for the country’s highest sporting honour.- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award ..
Leading badminton player Kidambi Srikanth and champion Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra were also in contention for this honour, but according to sources Kohli and Chanu got the nod from the selection committee ..
The 29-year-old 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 hockey captain Sardar Singh and para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia
The Indian captain who currently leads the ICC Test rankings for batsmen and has been in phenomenal form. .will be the third cricketer to get the Khel Ratna after Sachin Tendulkar (1997) and the double world cup-winning captain skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2007
Mirabai Chanu won the Gold in 48kg category in the World Championships last year. She also bagged the title in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.She didn’t compete at the Asian Games due to injury. She is also considered to be medal contender in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Chanu will also be the third weightlifter to win this prize after Karnam Malleswari (1995) and Nameirakpam Kunjarani (1996)
Kohli has 6147 runs in 71 Tests with 23 centuries and 9779 runs in 211 ODIs, including 35 tons.With a combined 58 tons in international cricket, he is only second to Sachin Tendulkar (100) in the list of India’s top century-scorers in international cricket.
He was also the member of the 2011 ICC World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy winning team. He led the team to the finals of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
The Indian captain is the recipient of ICC’s ‘ODI Cricketer of the Year’ in 2012 and 2017 along with the sport’s highest honour — the ICC Cricketer of the Year. He has won the Indian Cricketer of the Year on five occasions. .
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra who was recommended by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for the Khel Ratna has also named for the Arjuna Award by the federation.
20-year Old Chopra is one of the three athletes who has been recommended for the Arjuna Award, along with women’s javelin thrower Annu Rani and Commonwealth Games medallist Seema Antil Punia
The federation has also nominated athlete turned coach P.T. Usha and India youth team coach Sanjay Garnaik for the Dronacharya Award.
Bobby Aloysius, Kuldeep Singh Bhullar and Jata Shankar have been recommended for the Dhyanchand Award, while T.P. Ouseph has been recommended for the Life Time Achievement Award.