BCCI congratulated the trio including Rohit Sharma, who received the majestic Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna besides crediting Deepti Sharma and Ishant Sharma for receiving Arjuna Award. BCCI applauded all three through their official Twitter account on Friday following the decision of National Sports Award Committee for being conferred with awards.
Rohit Sharma became the fourth Indian cricketer to be conferred with the prestigious Khel Ratna award after finishing as the leading run-getter in ODIs in 2019 apart from being the first batsman to score five hundreds in one edition of the World Cup in 2019 joining the ranks of Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli in the elite list.
BCCI Congrats Rohit Sharma Being Fourth Cricketer To Get Prestigious Khel Ratna
Rohit Sharma known as Hitman is the only cricketer to score three double centuries in ODIs. Besides, he has the highest score in One-dayers which is 264 against a hapless Sri Lanka in Kolkata.
He captains his franchise Mumbai Indians and is fighting for a spot in the Test team. He has played 32 Tests scoring 2141 at a decent average of 46.54 and appeared in 224 ODIs where he scored 9115 runs at an exemplary average of 49.27.
Congratulations @ImRo45 for being conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, 2020, India’s highest sporting honour. He is only the fourth Indian cricketer to receive this award.
We are proud of you, Hitman! pic.twitter.com/ErHJtBQoj9
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 21, 2020
Sachin Tendulkar, the world’s leading run-getter in both Tests and ODIs besides having the maximum number of international centuries to his name received the award in 1998.
MS Dhoni who retired from international cricket on Independence Day 2020 after leading India to famous victories in T20 World Cup in 2007 and 2011 World Cup was the second one to bag the award in 2007.
MS Dhoni was the only captain in history to win all three ICC trophies after winning 2013 Champions trophy. He has also scored more than 10,000 ODI runs.
Virat Kohli, who is second on the list of maximum international centuries and the present Indian skipper who averages more than 50 across all three formats was the third man to get the award in 2018.
Currently, he has 70 international centuries which is next to Sachin Tendulkar who is the only cricketer to have 100 centuries.
BCCI Also Salutes Deepti Sharma And Ishant Sharma For Arjuna Award
Indian spin bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma has bagged the Arjuna Award for consistently performing equally well with both bat and ball in WODI and WT20I cricket for the past one and a half years.
Deepti Sharma has 15 and 30 wickets in 12 WODIs and 24 WT20Is besides scoring 137 and 302 runs respectively since 2019. The 22-year-old Deepti Sharma has accumulated 1417 and 390 runs in 54 WODI and 47 WT20I besides picking up 64 and 51 wickets in the two formats respectively.
We congratulate @Deepti_Sharma06 for winning the Arjuna Award, 2020. ???
Here are her key career milestones. ? pic.twitter.com/qwCu8rT7JE
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 22, 2020
Ishant Sharma, who is nearing a double of 100 Test appearances and 300 wickets bowled at his best especially in the last 3-4 years leading Indian pace attack in Tests. The veteran fast bowler was rewarded for his consistency by getting the Arjuna Award.
The Delhi cricketer has picked up 71 wickets in 18 Tests at an exceptional average of 19.14 since 2018. The 6 ft 4-inch tall pacer played for India since 2007 appearing in 97 tests where he picked up 297 wickets. Besides in 80 ODIs, he has 115 and in 14 T20Is he has 8 wickets.
Congratulations to our senior most Test bowler @ImIshant for winning the prestigious Arjuna Award for 2020.
Keep going, champ! pic.twitter.com/WyHjMsOYBG
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 21, 2020
Ishant Sharma last played a one-day in 2016 and last T20I in 2013.