Kohli recommended for Khel Ratna, Rahane for Arjuna Award
NEW DELHI: Following his superlative run of form, India’s Test skipper Virat Kohli has been recommended for the nation’s biggest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Ajinkya Rahane, who serves as Kohli’s deputy, has been nominated for the prestigious Arjuna Award.
Both the recommendations came from the BCCI on Tuesday.
In the last two years, not only has Kohli been prolific with the bat, he has also captained India well in the Test format since being named MS Dhoni’s successor. He led India to an impressive series win in Sri Lanka and followed that with a 3-0 win at home against South Africa, then the number one Test playing nation.
Kohli’s success as skipper has reflected in his batting as well. In 2016, Kohli stands at the peak of T20s with over 1000 runs, becoming only the second Indian to do so after Suresh Raina achieved the same in 2012. Kohli also became the fastest (18 innings) to reach 1000 T20 runs in a calendar year. His scores this year read a staggering 90*, 55*, 50, 7, 49, 56*, 41*, 23, 55*, 24, 82, 89*, 75, 79, 33, 80, 100 and 14.
If Kohli is awarded the honour, he will become the third cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar (1997-98) and MS Dhoni (2007-08) to join the list of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardees.
India’s new Mr. Consistent, Rahane has been India’s best overseas batsman in recent times. He scored a brilliant 126 in the series against Sri Lanka in 2015 and capped the year with hundreds in both innings in the fourth Test against South Africa in Delhi.
The Khel Ratna comes with a cash reward of Rs 7.5 lakhs and a citation, while the Arjuna award comes with a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs and a citation.
“We have received the recommendations from the BCCI. Their names will be sent to the awards selection committee,” a sports ministry official said.
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