Khel Ratna Awards 2020: Rohit Sharma Among Five Athletes To Receive India's Highest Sporting Honour

Khel Ratna Awards 2020: Cricketer Rohit Sharma, para-athlete Mariappan Thangavelu, table tennis champion Manika Batra, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and hockey player Rani to get Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Photo: AFP

Team India's star opener and limited-overs skipper Rohit Sharma is among 5 other sports personalities who will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2020, India's highest sporting honour. Rohit's nomination for the Khel Ratna came after his spectacular batting performance for the Indian cricket team in the past few years. The hard-hitting opener enjoyed a great run last year - becoming the first ever batsman to score five tons in ICC ODI World Cup.

Along with Rohit Sharma, Para-athlete Mariappan Thangavelu, table tennis ace Manika Batra, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and Indian women's hockey team captain Rani Rampal will also receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Rohit Sharma, the only cricketer to be recommended for the prestigious honour, is the only fourth Indian cricketer after Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar to be conferred with the Khel Ratna Award.

In 1998, Sachin Tendulkar became the first ever cricketer to receive the Khel Ratna. Two-time World Cup winner MS Dhoni and team India skipper Virat Kohli, bagged the top sporting honour in the year 2007 and 2018, respectively.

The decision to confer Rohit Sharma with the Khel Ratna award 2020 comes after the National Sports Awards Selection committee comprising of team India's former star opener Virender Sehwag and former hockey player Sardar Sigh met on Tuesday at SAI headquarters in New Delhi to decide the Khel Ratna and other sports awards.

Team India's red-ball specialist Ishant Sharma and cricketer Deepti Sharma, Indian Olympic athlete Dutee Chand, Indian Olympian shooter Manu Bhaker among 27 sportsperson will be conferred with Arjuna Award.

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