India pacer Ishant Sharma was on Tuesday named in a 29-strong list of athletes recommended for this year's Arjuna award by the sports ministry's selection committee. Male recurve archer Atanu Das, women's hockey team player Deepika Thakur, cricketer Deepak Hooda and tennis player Divij Sharan have also been recommended for the prestigious award, an official source told PTI after the selection committee's meeting in New Delhi. The 31-year-old Ishant has played 97 Tests and 80 ODIs for India, grabbing over 400 international wickets.
It has also been learnt that Olympic bronze-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik and former world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu too have got the committee's nod but the final decision has been left on sports minister Kiren Rijiju as both women are former Khel Ratna awardees.
While Sakshi won the Khel Ratna in 2016 for her bronze medal in the Rio Olympics, Mirabai was conferred with the honour in 2018 along with India captain Virat Kohli for her world championship gold medal.