BCCI Congratulates Virat Kohli, Smriti Mandhana For Khel Ratna And Arjuna Award

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday congratulated skipper Virat Kohli and Smriti Mandhana on being honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna award respectively. Virat Kohli was conferred the highest sporting honour in the country by President Ram Nath Kovind at the National Sports Awards ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Smriti, the vice-captain of the women's T20I team, who was honoured with the Arjuna award, was absent from the ceremony as she is currently on national duty in Sri Lanka. While Virat has successfully led India in different formats topping the batting charts, Smriti has been scoring heavily at the top of the order with much flair. Congratulating the duo, BCCI acting President CK Khanna said, "National Sports Awards are given to recognise and reward excellence in sports. Both Virat and Smriti have been excellent and it is a proud moment for the BCCI to see them get these awards."

"Virat is the No. 1 batsman in Tests as well as ODIs and an exceptional leader. Smriti's batting skills have been appreciated by one and all and she has a knack of getting big scores outside India," he added.

Congratulations to #TeamIndia Captain @imVkohli on being conferred upon with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind.

Full videohttps://t.co/Y302AKgNN1 pic.twitter.com/opcMMEj3Q1

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2018

List of Awardees

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Virat Kohli and Mirabai Chanu.

Arjuna Awards: Neeraj Chopra, Jinson Johnson and Hima Das (Athletics); N Sikki Reddy (Badminton); Satish Kumar (Boxing); Smriti Mandhana (Cricket); Shubhankar Sharma (Golf); Manpreet Singh, Savita (Hockey), Ravi Rathore (Polo), Rahi Sarnobat, Ankur Mittal, Shreyasi Singh (Shooting); Manika Batra, G Sathiyan (Table Tennis); Rohan Bopanna (Tennis); Sumit (Wrestling); Pooja Kadian (Wushu); Ankur Dhama (Para-Athletics); Manoj Sarkar (Para-Badminton). 

Dronacharya Awards: CA Kuttappa (Boxing); Vijay Sharma (Weightlifting); A Srinivasa Rao (Table Tennis); Sukhdev Singh Pannu (Athletics); Clarence Lobo (Hockey, Lifetime); Tarak Sinha (Cricket, Lifetime); Jiwan Kumar Sharma (Judo, Lifetime); V R Beedu (Athletics, Lifetime). 

Dhyan Chand Awards: Satyadev Prasad (Archery); Bharat Kumar Chetry (Hockey); Bobby Aloysius (Athletics); Chougale Dadu Dattatray (Wrestling). 

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2018

1. Identification and Nurturing of Budding & Young Talent: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited.

2. Encouragement to Sports through Corporate Social Responsibility: JSW Sports

3. Sports for Development: Isha Outreach    Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2017-18: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

(With inputs from agencies)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team India Women Virat Kohli Smriti Mandhana BCCI Cricket