Deepti Sharma 'extremely grateful' to be nominated for Arjuna Award

Indian cricketer Deepti Sharma on Monday said that she is "extremely grateful" to be nominated for the Arjuna award by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The 24-year-old spinner thanked her mentors and coaches for constant their and said she will keep on performing well in the future.

"I'm extremely grateful to be nominated by the @BCCI for the Arjuna award. Would like to thank all my coaches, mentors and the team for supporting me through the journey. Will keep giving my best," Deepti tweeted.
 

Deepti holds the record for the highest individual Women's ODI score by an Indian player and is also the only Indian spinner to take 6 WODI wickets.

 

Deepti was economical during India's run in the Women's T20 World Cup 2020. In the tournament opener against Australia, she gave just 17 runs in the four overs. While in the match against Sri Lanka, she delivered a standout performance by taking a wicket and giving away 16 runs.

What are Arjuna Awards?

The Arjuna Awards are given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India to recognise outstanding achievement in field of sports. The process of giving Arjuna Awards was started in 1961, which includes a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a bronze statue of Arjuna and a scroll.

The criteria for conferring Arjuna Award has been revised over the years. According to the revised guidelines, to be eligible for the award, a sportsperson should not only have had good performance consistently for the previous four years at the international level with excellence for the year for which the award is recommended, but should also have shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.

The BCCI also nominated Indian cricketers Ishant Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan for Arjuna Awards.

While Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma was nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2020 by the apex body of cricket in India.

List of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award winner:

Year	Name Of The Awardee	Discipline
2019	Bajrang Punia	Wrestling
	Deepa Malik	Paralympic

2018	Mirabai Chanu	Weightlifting
	Virat Kohli	Cricket
2017	Sardar Singh	Hockey
	Devendra	Para – Athletic
2016	P.V. Sindhu	Badminton
	Dipa Karmakar	Gymnastics
	Jitu Rai	Shooting
	Sakshi Malik	Wrestling
2015	Sania Mirza	Tennis
2013	Ronjan Sodhi	Shooting
2012	Vijay Kumar	Shooting
	Yogeshwar Dutt	Wrestling
2011	Gagan Narang	Shooting
2010	Saina Nehwal	Badminton
2009	Mary Kom	Boxing
	Vijender Singh
	Sushil Kumar	Wrestling
2007	MS Dhoni	Cricket
2006	Manavjit Singh Sandhu	Shooting
2005	Pankaj Advani	Billiards & Snooker
2004	Lt. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	Shooting
2003	Anju Bobby George	Athletics
2002	K M Beenamol	Athletics
	Anjali R.Bhagwat	Shooting
2001	Abhinav Bindra	Shooting
2000-2001	Pullela Gopichand	Badminton
1999-2000	Dhanraj Pillay	Hockey
1998-1999	Jyotirmoyee Sikdar	Athletics
1997-1998	Sachin Tendulkar	Cricket
1996-1997	Leander Paes	Tennis
1995-1996	N Kunjurani	Weightlifting
1994-1995	K Malleshwari	Weightlifting
1992-1994	Cdr. Homi D. Motivala	Yachting
	Cdr. P.K. Garg	Yachting
1991-1992	Vishwanath Anand	Chess
	Geet Sethi	Billiards