Indian cricketers Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav have been nominated for the Arjuna Award 2019. These two cricketers are among the 19 sportspersons who have been finalised for the Arjuna Award 2019.
On Saturday (17th August), the Selection Committee has taken this decision. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, gives the Arjuna Award to the sportspersons for the outstanding achievement.
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Apart from the two Indian cricketers, the other 17 Indian sportspersons in this list are Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (football), Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (hockey), Ajay Thakur (Kabaddi), Mohammed Anas Yahiya (athletics), Swapna Barman (athletics), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (athletics), Sundar Singh Gurjar (para-sports, athletics), Pramod Bhagat (para-sports, badminton), Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth (badminton), Harmeet Rajul Desai (table tennis), Anjum Moudgil (shooting), S Bhaskaran (bodybuilding), Pooja Dhanda (wrestling), Sonia Lather (boxing), Gaurav Singh Gill (motorsports), Fouaad Mirza (Equestrian) and Simran Singh Shergill (polo).
Ravindra Jadeja is performing incredibly at present
Ravindra Jadeja is one of the top all-rounders in the present world cricket. He has played 41 Tests, 156 ODIs and 42 T20Is since his international debut in February 2009. The left-handed middle-order batsman has scored 1,485 Test runs (average 32.28), 2,128 ODI runs (average 30.84) and 135 T20I runs (average 11.25). Meanwhile, the left-arm spinner took 192 Test wickets, 178 ODI wickets and 32 T20I wickets. He was the former top-ranked ODI bowler, Test bowler and Test all-rounder.
In the recently concluded ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, Jadeja performed very well despite playing only two matches. He was one of the best fielders in that entire tournament as he mostly came to the field as a substitute fielder.
In the semi-final of CWC 2019 against New Zealand, Jadeja played the great all-round cricket. Apart from taking two catches and making one run-out, Jadeja had the bowling figures of 10-0-34-1.
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At chasing the 240 runs target, when India were struggling on 92/6, Jadeja came to bat and batted strongly as he scored 77 runs off 59 balls (four fours and four sixes). His batting helped India to reach closer to the target but just failed to win that. India finally lost that game by 18 runs.
Poonam Yadav is the most T20I wicket-taker for India Women
Meanwhile, Poonam Yadav is the present third-ranked Women’s T20I bowler and ninth-ranked Women’s ODI bowler. The Indian Women’s leg-spinner has played the only Test, 41 ODIs and 54 T20Is where she has bagged three, 63 and 74 wickets respectively. At present, the 27-year-old Poonam Yadav is the most T20I wicket-taker among the Indian Women’s bowlers.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recommended four names for the Arjuna Award 2019. Apart from Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav, the Indian men’s national cricket team’s pacers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah were also in that recommendation list.
The Selection Committee has also revealed the nomination lists for the other sports awards. These awards are Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Dronacharya Award (Regular Category and Life-Time Category), Dhyanchand Award etc.
The Selection Committee has nominated the cricket coach Sanjay Bhardwaj for the Dronacharya Award (Life-Time Category). Apart from him, there are five more names for the entire Dronacharya Award.