Indian pacer Mohammed Shami’s name has been recommended for the Arjuna Award by the Indian Cricket Board, BCCI. At the same time, India’s premier badminton pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are likely to receive Khel Ratna.
Mohammed Shami, one of India’s ODI World Cup heroes, now enters the race for the most prestigious Arjuna Award. According to ANI reports, Shami was not named on the list. Still, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a special approach to the Sports Ministry of India to include the pacer’s name in the nomination list.
On the other hand, India’s history-making star pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are nominated for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award following an exceptional season this year.
Satwik-Chirag’s 2023: A record-breaking season
Indian men’s doubles badminton duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty registered the number one spot in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) following their gold medal clinch at the Asian Games in Hangzhou this year.
Their victory list also included multiple tournament wins at the Asian Championships, Korea Super 500, Indonesia Super 1000 and Swiss Open Super 300 in the remarkable year 2023. They are the first Indian duo shuttlers and the fourth Indian after Prakash Padukone, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth to have feet on this feat.
Scintillating Shami in World Cup 2023
At 33, the veteran Indian pacer, Mohammed Shami, made a lasting impression with the ball in the ODI World Cup 2023 for he emerged as the highest wicket-taker. Despite missing the first four matches in the event, his performance stunned the world when he got an opportunity to showcase his bowling skills.
As Indian all-rounder, Hardik Pandya was ruled out after failing to recover from an injury, Mohammed Shami, an experienced speed star, was called into action to join India’s frontline quicks – Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. It was all that opened the door for a 33-year-old pace bowler to script his name in the history of Cricket even surpassing Zaheer Khan’s previous record of taking 21 wickets in the 2011 World Cup.
His brilliant performance throughout the campaign including the brutal spell of 7/57 against New Zealand made him the leading wicket-taker with 24. There is no denying that India will surely remember the World Cup 2023 not only for being the runners-up but also for how Shami turned into the key architect of a wonderful World Cup campaign.
Nominees for National Sports Awards 2023:
Arjuna Award-
Besides Shami, some of the top sportspersons nominated for the Arjuna Award include Ajay Reddy from Blind Cricket, Indian ace boxer Mohammed Hussammudin and Sheetal Devi from Para Archery among 16 nominees. Last year twenty-five athletes won the award. But none of them was a cricketer. It was Shikhar Dhawan who received the prestigious Arjuna Award as a cricketer for the last time in 2021.
Dronacharya Award-
The list for the Dronacharya Award which is bestowed upon the coaches includes Ganesh Prabhakaran (Mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (Para Athletics), Lalit Kumar (Wrestling), RB Ramesh (Chess) and Shivendra Singh (Hockey).
Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award-
Those who have been nominated for the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award are Kavita(Kabaddi), Manjusha Kanwar (Badminton) and Vineet Kumar Sharma (Hockey).
