Prestigious Arjuna Award is given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in sports.
Criteria for the award is that the sportsperson should have not only have a consistent performance on an international level for 4 years, with excellence for the year for which the award is recommended but also show the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
Each Arjuna Awardee gets ₹500,000, a bronze statue of Arjuna and a scroll.
This year there are 19 sportspersons nominated for the reputed award. Among those 19 there are 2 notable cricketers who are Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav.
BCCI had given the names of Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav to be nominated for the award. Out of the four, 2 made the cut.
The all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja plays a vital in the men’s national cricket team. He is regarded as the best fielder of the side. He played a fighting knock of 77 off 59 in this year’s World Cup semi-final. In the test arena, he has been in the top 10 bowlers and all-rounders list, dominating the list briefly.
Poonam Yadav the leg spinner, has been a vital cog in the wheel for the Indian women’s setup. She was an integral part of the World Cup side that reached the final of 2017
Women’s Cricket World Cup. She played an essential role to help the team reach the semi-final of the 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup. With 74 wickets against her name in T20Is, she tops the list with most T20I wickets for an Indian.
List of Arjuna Award Nominees
Apart from the above mentioned athletes, other sportspersons nominated for are award are
Tajinderpal Singh Toor (athletics), Mohammed Anas Yahiya (athletics), S Bhaskaran (bodybuilding), Sonia Lather (boxing), Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (hockey), Ajay Thakur (Kabaddi), Gaurav Singh Gill (motorsports), Pramod Bhagat (para-sports, badminton), Anjum Moudgil (shooting), Harmeet Rajul Desai (table tennis), Pooja Dhanda (wrestling), Fouaad Mirza (Equestrian), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (football), Swapna Barman (athletics), Sundar Singh Gurjar (para-sports, athletics), Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth (badminton), Simran Singh Shergill (polo).
Check out our videos here
For more cricket based content, click here
For more fitness-based content, click here