BCCI congratulates Rohit, Ishant & Deepti Sharma on winning National Sports Awards

New Delhi:The BCCI on Saturday congratulated batsman Rohit Sharma, pacer Ishant Sharma and all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Award respectively this year, saying the cricket body was proud of their achievements.

The sports ministry on Friday announced that five athletes- Rohit Sharma, Vinesh Phogat, Rani Rampal, Manika Batra and Mariyappan Thangavelu - will be conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2020.Meanwhile, India pacer Ishant Sharma, women's team all-rounder Deepti Sharma, woman sprinter Dutee Chand and young shooting stars, Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary and 22 other athletes will be conferred the Arjuna Award.

After the announcement, BCCI congratulated the trio of Rohit, Ishant and Deepti.Wishes poured in for the trio as the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Ravi Shastri, Suresh Raina, Mithali Raj, WV Raman, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammad Kaif, Ajinkya Rahane, IPL teams Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals were amongst the many who congratulated the three for winning the national sports awards.

The BCCI congratulated limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma for winning the country's highest sporting honour - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award this year.''Congratulations @ImRo45 for being conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, 2020, India's highest sporting honour. He is only the fourth Indian cricketer to receive this award. We are proud of you, Hitman ! ,'' the BCCI wrote on its Twitter handle.

Rohit became only the fourth Indian cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli to bag the award. The right-handed batsman had a stellar World Cup 2019 and went on to score 648 runs, with the help of record-breaking five hundreds during India's run to the semi-final.

Rohit, who was named the ICC ODI Cricketer of The Year 2019, also went on to become the first batsman to score twin tons in his first Test as an opener last year.The BCCI also congratulated senior pacer Ishant Sharma on being named for the Arjuna Awards.

''Congratulations to our senior most Test bowler @ImIshant for winning the prestigious Arjuna Award for 2020. Keep going, champ!, '' the BCCI tweeted.Ishant, who holds the record for most Test wickets for an Indian pacer outside Asia, became the first Indian to return with a five-wicket haul. 

The right-arm bowler currently ranks third in the list of Indian pacers, with 297 Test wickets against his name. He scalped 26 wickets across 6 Tests in 2019.''Congratulations to our all-rounder @Deepti_Sharma06 on being conferred upon with the prestigious Arjuna Award for 2020. May you continue soaring new heights," Indian board tweeted wishing Deepti.

Deepti, who is the fastest Indian to have an ODI double of 1000 runs and 50 wickets, is the only Indian spinner to take 6 wickets in WODIs and has the highest individual score for an Indian in WODIs. She was also a member of the Indian side which reached the Women's T20 World Cup 2020 and picked up 34 wickets across WODIs and WT20Is.(UNI)