The selection committee has decided 25 names for the National Sports Awards 2025. According to news agency PTI, hockey player Hardik Singh has been recommended for Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. This is the biggest sports honor of the country. Hardik played an important role in India’s bronze win in Tokyo and Paris Olympics.
24 players have been nominated for the Arjuna Award, India’s second highest sports honour. It has players from Hockey, Athletics, Boxing, Chess, Gymnastics, Shooting, Kabaddi, Badminton, Rowing and Kho-Kho. Even Yogasana player Aarti Pal has been recommended for Arjuna Award. Yogasana has received recognition from the Sports Ministry only 5 years ago. For the second consecutive year, no cricketer’s name has been put forward for the National Sports Awards.
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India won 3-3 ICC trophies in cricket
The last few months have been very successful for Indian cricket. Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, Team India became the 2024 T20 World Cup champion. After this, the Indian team won the Champions Trophy title in March this year. Then in September, the team captained by Suryakumar Yadav defeated Pakistan and won the Asia Cup. On the other hand, the women’s team became world champion under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur. This was the first ICC trophy for the Indian women’s team.
People are surprised by the fact that despite winning 3-3 ICC trophies in the last 18 months, no cricketer has even been nominated for the Arjuna Award. The last time any cricketer received the Arjun Award was in 2023, when Mohammed Shami was honored by the President. Let us tell you that till now 5 cricketers have been honored with Khel Ratna. More than 50 cricket players have received the Arjuna Award.
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Cricketers were ignored?
With the names of cricketers not being recommended for the National Sports Awards for the second consecutive year, at first glance it may seem that they are being ignored. Questions are also being raised on Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Vice President Gagan Narang, former badminton player Aparna Popat and former hockey player MM Somaiya, who are included in the selection committee, but if we look at the rules, they are helpless.
Arjun Award is given to those players who have consistently performed well at the international level in the last 4 years. Also must have shown discipline, leadership and sportsmanship. Indian cricketers who meet this criteria have already received the Arjuna Award and as per the rules, this award cannot be given again.
Talking about Khel Ratna, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have received this award long ago. Women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur could have been nominated to be honored with this award like Mithali Raj. Considering Harmanpreet’s contribution in sports, perhaps the selection committee will recommend her name in future.
Cricketers honored with Khel Ratna Award
- Sachin Tendulkar (1997-98)
- Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2007)
- Virat Kohli (2018)
- Rohit Sharma (2020)
- Mithali Raj (2021)
Complete list of players nominated for Arjun Award: Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics), Priyanka (Athletics), Narendra (Boxing), Vidit Gujarati (Chases), Divya Deshmukh (Chases), Dhanush Srikanth (Deaf Shooting), Pranati Nayak (Gymnastics), Rajkumar Pal (Hockey), Surjit (Kabaddi), Nirmala Bhati (Kho-Kho), Rudransh Khandelwal (Para-Shooting), Ekta Bhayan (Para-Athletics), Padmanabh Singh (Polo), Arvind Singh (Rowing), Akhil Sheoran (Shooting), Mehuli Ghosh (Shooting), Sutirtha Mukherjee (Table Tennis), Sonam Malik (Wrestling), Aarti (Yoga), Trisa Jolly (Badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton), Lalremsiami Hamar Jote (hockey), Mohammad Afsal (Athletics), Pooja (Kabaddi).
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