Rohit Sharma, who will receive Khel Ratna and Ishant Sharma who will be a recipient of Arjuna Award will miss the virtual National Sports Awards ceremony on August 29 for not being in the country as they are currently in UAE to participate in the forthcoming IPL.
Although the ceremony will be held virtually those who are still outside the country will be unable to participate and will receive their trophies later.
Rohit Sharma And Ishant Sharma Will Get Awards Later For Being Abroad
The award winners will be connected to President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan from nine different Sports Authority of India designated locations. The other four Khel Ratna winners as an unprecedented five have been chosen for the nation’s highest sporting honour this year will join in from various centres.
“No provision has been made for those who are outside India. They will get their awards later,” said a SAI official.
SAI has made an elaborate arrangement in a short time to send trophies, certificates and blazers to the respective centres.
“As for the other award winners, their awards and certificates have been sent to the respective locations chosen for the ceremony.The President will show the scroll of honour on the screen. The awardee will then bow down and then hold the trophy for the photo,” the official added.
Rohit Sharma will continue to lead Mumbai Indians for which he had captained since 2013. Besides, he has given his team wins in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019. Mumbai Indians is the most successful team in IPL history with 4 titles. Ishant Sharma will represent the Delhi Capitals franchise.
Rohit Sharma And Ishant Sharma Among 9 To Not Attend Ceremony
The nine designated centres are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Pune, Sonepat, Hyderabad and Bhopal. The award winners should travel from their home cities to join the virtual function have undergone thorough COVID test and three of them have tested positive.
“Three award winners after having tested positive will not attend the function,” SAI said in a statement. “In total nine award winners will not attend the ceremony due to several reasons like being quarantined, tested positive, ill health or not in the country etc.”
There are 74 awards in seven categories, which includes 27 Arjuna Awards.
“All health and safety protocols are being followed strictly at the centres where the athletes will be present. All centers have been thoroughly sanitized and arrangements have been made to ensure social distancing during the awards function,” SAI said.
Rohit Sharma who is the vice-captain of India in limited-overs formats will lead his franchise Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020, is the only cricketer to score three double centuries in ODI. He will be the fourth cricketer to receive Khel Ratna Award following the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Ishant Sharma, on the other hand, is nearing 300 Test wickets and 100 appearances in Tests. He has 297 wickets from 97 Tests so far after debuting in 2007.