Rohit Sharma, Vinesh Phogat, Manika Batra And Mariyappan Thangavelu Recommended For Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2020

India’s limited-overs vice-captain, Rohit Sharma is among the four athletes nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2020. Along with the Mumbai Indians skipper, the names of Asian Games Gold medalist wrestler Vinesh Phogat, table tennis champion Manika Batra & Paralympian Mariappan Thangavelu have been put forward by the National Sports Award Committee for India’s highest sporting honour. BCCI Recommends Rohit Sharma for Khel Ratna Award.

This decision comes after the selection panel met on Tuesday (August 18, 2020) for deciding the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and other national sports awards. This is the first time since 2016 that the names of four different athletes have been recommended for the prestigious honour. PV Sindhu, Dipa Karmakar, Jitu Rain and Sakshi Malik were the recipients four years earlier. AIFF Nominate Sandesh Jhingan and Bala Devi for Arjuna Award.

Rohit Sharma is set to join an elite list of cricketers to ever receive India's highest sporting honour. Sachin Tendulkar was the first-ever cricketer to be awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1998. World Cup winning skipper MS Dhoni won it after the national teams 2007 T20 WC win while Virat Kohli received the honour in 2018.

Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold medals in Commonwealth and Asian Games and she achieved this feat in 2018. TT star Manika Batra had a remarkable year in 2018 where she won the Commonwealth Games gold medal and Asian Games bronze in women's singles. Mariyappan Thangavelu created history at the Rio Paralympic Games when he won the gold medal in High Jump (T42).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 18, 2020 02:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).