No Khel Ratna For 2025. Not A Single Cricketer Recommended For Arjuna Award: Sources
This marks only the third time in history that the country's highest sporting honor won't be awarded to anyone.
Before the meeting at Delhi's Major Dhyan Chand Stadium regarding the nation's highest sporting honors - the Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards-could even conclude, the names of the winners were leaked to the media, sparking significant drama. A source told NDTV that the leak led to an intense uproar during the session.
No Khel Ratna Awarded This Year
Another committee member told NDTV that while the names of World Cup-winning cricket captains Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, along with talented double Olympic medalist hockey player Hardik Singh, were discussed, the committee ultimately reached a consensus not to confer the Khel Ratna to anyone this year.
A Rare Occurrence
This marks only the third time in history that the country's highest sporting honor won't be awarded to anyone. Since Viswanathan Anand became the first recipient in 1991, the award was previously skipped in 2008 and 2014 due to a lack of consensus on a single name.
In another surprising turn, for the second consecutive year, no cricketer has been selected for the Arjuna Award.
Only One Female Cricketer Has Won Previously
Among cricketers, the Khel Ratna was first awarded to Sachin Tendulkar (1997-98), followed by MS Dhoni (2007), Virat Kohli (2018), and Rohit Sharma (2019).Â
Former Indian women's team captain Mithali Raj (2021) remains the only female cricketer to have received the honor. Despite the historic World Cup success in November, the committee did not find Harmanpreet Kaur or any of her teammates eligible for the top prize this year.
Arjuna Award Recommendations For 2025:
Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics), Priyanka (Athletics), Mohd. Afsal (Athletics), Treesa Jolly (Badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton), Narendra (Boxing), Vidit Gujrathi (Chess), Divya Deshmukh (Chess), Dhanush Srikanth (Deaf Shooting), Pranati Nayak (Gymnastics), Raj Kumar Pal (Hockey), Lalremsiami (Hockey), Pooja (Kabaddi), Surjeet (Kabaddi), Nirmala Bhati (Kho-Kho), Rudransh Khandelwal (Para-Shooting), Ekta Bhyan (Para-Athletics), Padmanabh Singh (Polo), Arvind Singh (Rowing), Akhil Sheoran (Shooting), Mehuli Ghosh (Shooting), Sutirtha Mukherjee (Table Tennis), Sonam Malik (Wrestling), and Aarti (Yoga).
India Women