Cricketer Ishant Sharma and archer Atanu Das are among the 29 sportspersons recommended for the 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 award, an official source told PTI after the selection committee’s meeting here.
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 the women are former Khel Ratna awardees.
While Sakshi won the Khel Ratna in 2016 for her Olympic bronze in the Rio Olympics, Mirabai was conferred with the honour in 2018 along with India captain Virat Kohli for her world championship gold medal.
Earlier in the day, Ishant’s teammate Rohit Sharma and decorated woman wrestler Vinesh Phogat were among the four athletes recommended for this year’s Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award — the country’s highest sporting honour. The other two includes – paddler Manika Batra and Rio Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Mariappan Thangavelu.
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