Indian cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and Mithali Raj were honored with the National Sports Awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday. While Mithali got Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna South Poorvi got Arjuna at the hands of President Ram Nath Kovind. Earlier, the central government release the names of the players who will be honored with the National Sports Award. These included two cricketers Mithali Raj and Shikhar. National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.

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Shikhar Dhawan-

Shikhar nominated for the prestigious awards by the BCCI along with his fellow opener Rohit Sharma. On the southpaw’s nomination. Ganguly said, “Shikhar has been consistently scoring at the top and his performances in ICC events have been crucial.” He had earlier missed out on the Arjuna Award in 2018.

President Kovind confers Arjuna Award, 2021 on Shri Shikhar Dhawan in recognition of his outstanding achievements in Cricket.

• Fastest Indian to reach 2000 and 3000 runs in ODI Cricket
• Second fastest Indian to reach 4000 and 5000 runs in ICC ODI Cricket pic.twitter.com/mGBlsqaUmj

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 13, 2021

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Mithali Raj-

Raj is one of the only women cricketers to have a long-lasting career- 22 years. Furthermore she became synonymous with women’s cricket in India. With many up-and-coming talents embracing her. Her emergence on the biggest stage inspired Shafali Verma. Richa Ghosh to play cricket in Tier-II cities across the country. She made his India debut on 26 June 1999. Only Sachin Tendulkar (22 years 91 days) has a longer career than him in both men’s and women’s cricket. No other cricketer has been active in international cricket for more than 22 years. She has represented India in 11 Tests, 215 ODIs and 89 T20Is so far in his career. She has scored a combined 10,203 runs in all formats including eight centuries and 77 half-centuries.

Truly honoured and grateful to receive the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 🙏 pic.twitter.com/79HZOV9Uox

— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) November 13, 2021

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The ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’ is given for the outstanding. And most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson during a period of last four years. Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in sports and games is given for good performance. Over a period of last four years and for showing leadership, sportsmanship and spirit of discipline.