Rohit Sharma became only the fourth cricketer to win the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Rohit joined the like of Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli to be conferred with the highest sporting honour in the country.
Meanwhile, the vice-captain of India in white-ball cricket was the leading run-scorer in the 2019 cricket world cup. He also received the ICC ODI player of the year award for his outstanding performances in 50 over cricket.
Kohli congratulates Rohit
The 33-year-old will return to cricket in the upcoming IPL season that will be played in the UAE. Rohit will be leading 4 time and defending champions Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020.
Soon after the announcement, the Indian captain Virat Kohli congratulated his teammate Rohit on social media after he joined an elite list. Kohli also congratulated Ishant Sharma and Deepti Sharma who bagged the Arjuna Award.
“Congratulations @ImIshant and @ImRo45 for your respective Arjuna and Khel Ratna Awards Clapping hands sign and to @Deepti_Sharma06 for her Arjuna Award as well.Big congratulations to all the other winners across different sports. A proud moment to remember for each sportsperson”, Kohli wrote.
Congratulations @ImIshant and @ImRo45 for your respective Arjuna and Khel Ratna Awards 👏 and to @Deepti_Sharma06 for her Arjuna Award as well. 💪 Big congratulations to all the other winners across different sports. Proud moment to remember for each sportsperson.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) August 22, 2020
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli received the Khel Ratna award back in 2018 and joined an exclusive list. The 31-year-old is currently in the United Arab Emirates for the forthcoming IPL season. The RCB skipper and all other players and coaching staff of the franchise landed in Dubai yesterday for their mandatory quarantine period.
Moreover, Rohit also took to social media and posted a short video and thanked all his well wishes for their constant support throughout his career after winning the honour.
“Thank you for all your wishes and lots of love”, Rohit wrote from his official Twitter handle.
Thank you for all your wishes and lots of love. pic.twitter.com/vbKaTbfwd7
— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) August 22, 2020
Apart from Rohit Sharma, the Sports Ministry has also concluded the names of para-athlete Mariappan Thangavelu, table tennis champion Manika Batra, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and hockey player Rani Rampal for Khel Ratna.
