Rohit Sharma to be awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

Indian opening batsman and ODI vice-captain Rohit Sharma has been awarded the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. He is among the five people approved by the sports ministry of India on Friday to receive this award.

Rohit Sharma will become the fourth male Cricketer to receive India’s highest sporting honour after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. The Indian opener had a stellar run in 2019, especially in the 2019 Men’s Cricket World Cup, in which he scored an aggregate of 648 runs, including 5 hundreds.

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Other than Rohit, Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma and Indian women’s Cricket team all-rounder Deepti Sharma will be honoured with the Arjuna Award. Ishant has featured in 6 Test matches for India in 2019, taking 25 wickets at 15.56 with two 5-wicket hauls.

Deepti Sharma, who registered the record of the highest individual score by an Indian woman in ODIs in 2017, the 3rd-highest in women’s Cricket, when she scored 188 against Ireland in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers, has had an impressive 2020. She has aggregated 158 runs in the 10 T20 matches that she has played in, averaging 31.6 with a strike rate of just over a hundred. With her off-break bowling, she has taken 11 wickets in the 10 matches, at an economy rate of 6.7 runs per over.

Deepti Sharma’s valuable contributions with the bat, ball and in the help helped India secure a berth in the T20 World Cup final this year

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The three Cricketers, along with all the other nominated sportspersons, will be receiving the awards on the 29th of August, which is also celebrated as National Sports Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand. This year, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony is likely to be held virtually.