MUMBAI: For the second year running, the BCCI has nominated Indian captain Virat Kohli for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Being in tremendous form since the last 18 months in all formats of the game, Kohli is now expected to be the hot favourite to win it this year. He couldn’t in 2016 since the performances of PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Deepa Karmakar at the Olympic Games in Rio had overshadowed his.
The BCCI also recommended batting legend and current India U-19 coach, Rahul Dravid for the Dronacharya award, which is the highest honour for a coach or mentor in the country. This was confirmed to PTI by CoA head Vinod Rai.
In a related development, batting legend and former opener Sunil Gavaskar has been nominated for the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Yes, we have sent a number of nominations in various categories to the government. Rahul is the BCCI nominee for the Dronacharya award,” Rai told PTI.
Dravid’s name was hard to ignore courtesy his successful coaching stint, in which he oversaw India making it to the Under-19 World Cup final in 2016 and winning the title earlier this year. He has also been credited for nurturing players in the India A team during the transition of making it from junior to senior cricket.
The BCCI made an exception this time, since they had stopped sending nominations for the Dronacharya award due to many coaches wanting to get the credit for a player’s success sometimes.
“It happened when a former India opener had signed two nominations where coaches claimed that the player worked under them. From then, we had stopped sending nominations,” a senior BCCI official said.
“However when Rajkumar Sharma (Virat Kohli’s childhood coach) got the Dronacharya award, it was a personal nomination. He was not a BCCI nominee. For someone of Rahul’s stature, we have decided to depart from convention,” the official added.
When it comes to Sunil Gavaskar, he has contributed to Indian cricket not just as a player but also as an administration and an efficient media personality.
The Dhyan Chand award is usually conferred to those players who did not receive the Arjuna award during their playing days. However, Gavaskar is an Arjuna awardee, opening his nomination to questions of propriety.
Meanwhile, in a related development, cricketers Shikar Dhawan and Smriti Mandana were have been nominated for the Arjuna Award by the BCCI.
