Swashbuckling opener Rohit Sharma has been conferred with India’s highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. The right-handed batsman became only the fourth Indian cricketer to get the prestigious honour, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni being the other three. Rohit, India’s limited-overs vice-captain, is arguably the best opener at the moment in white-ball cricket and his records are nothing but breathtaking. The Mumbai-born cricketer has a knack of playing marathon knocks through which he has given nightmares to many bowling line-ups. As the news of Mumbai Indians captain getting the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award broke out, fans took to social media and hailed the Hitman. Many members of the cricket fraternity including Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and Shikhar Dhawan also congratulated the veteran opener. Rohit Sharma Becomes First Non-Captain and Fourth Indian Cricketer to Receive Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Notably, Kohli, Dhoni and Tendulkar received the award as the skipper of the national cricket team. Hence, Rohit also became the first non-Indian captain to achieve the feat. Making his debut in 2006, Rohit played several impressive knocks early on his career. However, he unleashed his best in the year 2013 when he was promoted as the opener. Rohit didn’t look back after that and played one staggering knock after another. In fact, he is the only batsman to score three ODI double centuries and four T20I centuries. With being just 33, a lot of cricket is certainly left in Rohit and it’ll be interesting to see how many more feathers will be added to his already illustrious hat. Meanwhile, let’s look at how cricket stars congratulated the talismanic opener. Rohit Sharma's Daughter Samira Helps Him With Packing His Bags, Jets Off to UAE With Mom and Dad Dressed in PPE Kits.

Suresh Raina Congratulates!!

Yuvraj Singh's Message!!

Shikhar Dhawan Proud Of His Partner!!

BCCI Highlights Hitman's Records!!

Pragyan Ojha Congratulates!!

Mumbai Indians Congratulate Their Captain!!

Along with Rohit, Asian and Commonwealth Games Gold winning-wrestler Vinesh Phogat, Table Tennis champion Manika Batra, India hockey women’s captain Rani Rampal and Paralympic gold medallist in high jump Mariappan Thangavelu are the other sportspersons to be awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2020. In fact, this is the first time that sportspersons from five different fields are receiving the honour in a single year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 22, 2020 02:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).