President Droupadi Murmu honoured Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami with the esteemed Arjuna Award on Tuesday in recognition of his outstanding service to the game. Shami received the accolade at Rashtrapati Bhavan after a brilliant 2023.

The pacer’s name was suggested for the esteemed award by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. When Shami received his award nomination, he was overjoyed.

After receiving the award Shami said, winning this award is a dream come true. He also said, life passes and people are not able to win this award. It’s a matter of great joy and he feels proud on winning it. Many people spend their entire lives as just spectators, watching others gain these honours. Many people still have unfulfilled dreams, as Shami said on Monday in response to his nomination for the nation’s second-biggest sporting award.

Shami also thanked his coach, BCCI, teammates, his family, staff and also to his fans. He said, he will always try to give his best to make the country proud. Mohammed Shami also congratulated to other Arjuna award winners.

Notably, President Murmu also gave honours to a number of other celebrities. Along with a number of other Indian athletes who excelled at the Asian Games, she gave young phenomenon Sheetal Devi the Arjuna Award.

Heroes of the Asian Games from India, including Aditi Gopichand Swami, Sreeshankar Murali, Parul Chaudhary, Esha Singh, and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, are included in the list who were awarded with the Arjuna Award.

Meanwhile, during the 2023 ODI World Cup, Mohammed Shami was one of the Indian team’s shining talents. Opponents found him to be a nightmare to cope with as he wrecked havoc. Despite missing the tournament’s first four games, the pace merchant amassed 24 wickets in just seven outings. He proceeded to shatter multiple records and established himself as India’s greatest wicket-taker in the tournament’s history.

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Indian women cricket team captain Mithali Raj along with 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra are among the 11 others, who have been shortlisted for Khel Ratna in 2021. While cricketer Shikhar Dhawan is among the 35 other sports personalities who have been recommended for the Arjuna awards by National Sports Awards Committee.

National Sports Awards Committee on Wednesday announced the shortlisted names for the awards in different categories.

Veteran hockey goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, 2020 Tokyo Olympics Silver medallist Ravi Dahiya, Indian football icon Sunil Chhetri are also among the shortlisted candidates for the prestigious Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna. Lovlina Borgohain who won Silver medal in Tokyo Olympics and Para Olympic 2020 gold medallist Avni Lekha, are also nominated for the Khel Ratna.

The committee also picked 35 athletes for the Arjuna award, including Shikhar Dhawan, para TT player Bhavina Patel, para shuttler Suhas Yathiraj and high jumper Nishad Kumar.

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Here is the full list of the shortlisted athletes for the awards.

Khel Ratna Awards 2021

Neeraj Chopra (Athletics)

Ravi Dahiya (Wrestling)

PR Sreejesh (Hockey)

Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing)

Sunil Chettri (Football)

Mithali Raj (Cricket)

Pramod Bhagat (Badminton)

Sumit Antil (Athletics)

Avani Lekhara (Shooting)

Krishna Nagar (Badminton)

Manish Narwal (Shooting)

Arjuna Award 2021

Yogesh Kathuniya (Discus throw)

Nishad Kumar (High jump)

Praveen Kumar (High jump)

Sharad Kumar (High jump)

Suhas LY (Badminton)

Singhraj Adhana (Shooting)

Bhavina Patel (Table Tennis)

Harvinder Singh (Archery)

Shikhar Dhawan (Cricket)

and all members of the National Hockey Team, who were part of the India team during Tokyo Olympics 2020, have been nominated for the award.

*National Hockey Team captain Manpreet Singh has already won the award in 2018, while veteran PR Sreejesh has been recommended for the highest honour in Indian sports.

In 2020, five sportspersons were awarded the Khel Ratna which was the most in a year, while 8 athletes received Arjuna wards.

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