Indian cricketers Mithali Raj and Shikhar Dhawan were conferred at the Rashtrapati Bhawan alongside other Indian sportspersons on Saturday. While Mithali Raj won the Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna, Dhawan was awarded the Arjuna Award by President Ram Nath Kovind. The Union Ministry had earlier released a list of sportspersons who were to be awarded on the prestigious night. Both the Indian cricketers were on that list.
While Shikhar Dhawan have been a part of many memorable Indian victories and played a part in them, Mithali Raj tops the run-scoring charts in ODI & T20I cricket. She made her debut in 1999 and her career spans over two decades now.
Mithali has so far represented India in 11 Tests, 215 ODIs and 89 T20Is so far in her career. Raj has scored a combined 10,203 runs across formats including eight centuries and 77 half-centuries.
President Ram Nath Kovind confers Major Dhyan Chand #KhelRatnaAward 2021 on Cricketer Mithali Raj!
LIVE Stream here📲 https://t.co/yKUBRZIa97 pic.twitter.com/oREIGFiSrv
— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) November 13, 2021
Mithali has also reacted to her winning the prestigious award by releasing a statement.
“Today I am honoured, proud and fortunate to be a part of Indian cricket. This journey has been arduous but bot without the support of my mentors, family, friends and senior who paved the way for all of us and my teammaytes” read a part of her statement.
Mithali Raj Releases Statement After Historic Achievement
Truly honoured and grateful to receive the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 🙏 pic.twitter.com/79HZOV9Uox
— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) November 13, 2021
Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan was nominated by the BCCI for the prestigious awards along with his fellow opener Rohit Sharma. “Shikhar has been consistently scoring at the top and his performances in the ICC events have been significant,” Ganguly said on the southpaw’s nomination.
President Ram Nath Kovind confers #ArjunaAward 2021 on #TeamIndia batter Shikhar Dhawan!
LIVE Stream here📲 https://t.co/yKUBRZIa97 pic.twitter.com/qsBqqKrnns
— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) November 13, 2021
Shikhar was a part of the Indian squad that won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. That was when he and Rohit Sharma started opening the batting for India. With time, they became one of the most feared opening pairs in world cricket.
Apart from the two cricketers, Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra was also awarded the Khel Ratna award from the President. Chopra had won the gold medal for India earlier this year in Tokyo Olympics 2020.
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