The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday congratulated Rohit Sharma, who will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on August 29. The BCCI took to Twitter to write, "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!" The other three cricketers to have won this prestigious award are Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Apart from Rohit, Mariyappan T. (Para-Athletics), Manika Batra (Table Tennis), Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling) and Rani Rampal (Hockey) will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award this year.
The cricket governing body in India also congratulated pacer Ishant Sharma and women team''s Deepti Sharma as both players will receive Arjuna Award this year.
"Congratulations to our senior most Test bowler @ImIshant for winning the prestigious Arjuna Award for 2020. Keep going, champ!" BCCI tweeted.
In another tweet, BCCI wrote, "Congratulations to our all-rounder @Deepti_Sharma06 on being conferred upon with the prestigious Arjuna Award for 2020. May you continue soaring new heights."
National Sports Awards which include the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the Arjuna award, the Dronacharya award, and the Dhyan Chand award, are conferred on athletes every year by the President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 29, the National Sports Day.
However, this year, the names would be announced by President Ram Nath Kovind virtually due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"The ceremony will take place virtually but what we will have to see how the exact process would pan out," a source within the Sports Ministry had told ANI.