4 legendary cricketers who have never won the Arjuna Award 

The Arjuna Awards are given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India to those recognized for their achievements in national sports. The award, which was first started in 1961, carries a money prize of Rs. 500,000, a scroll and a bronze statue of Arjuna. Several Indian cricketers have won the award over the years, the most recent entrants to the list being Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli.

However, there have been several deserving cricketers who have never won the Arjuna Award. Here’s taking a quick look at those.

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#4 Krishnamachari Srikkanth

Kris Srikkanth was one of the most explosive opening batsmen of his days

Former India captain Srikkanth will always be remembered for his integral role in the 1983 World Cup final against West Indies, in which he top-scored for India with a 57-ball 38 which was instrumental in India’s first-ever world title. A swashbuckling opening batsman, Srikkanth could rip apart the most fearsome bowlers on his day.

Srikkanth played 43 Tests for India, scoring 2,062 runs at an average of 29.88. In ODIs, he played 146 matches and scored 4,091 runs at an average of 29.01. Besides, the Tamil Nadu cricketer was also a part-time off-spinner in ODIs and took 25 wickets at an average of 25.64.

#3 Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina has been a terrific performer for India in limited-overs cricket

The middle-order batsman's career stats may not appear too attractive, but his contributions to India, in several ways, remain invaluable. The first Indian batsman to score centuries in all the three formats of the game, Raina has never been conferred with any national honors. He is also the only Indian to score centuries in both T20I and ODI World Cup and the first Indian player to score in excess of 6000 runs in T20Is. Also, his ability to bowl off-spin and his athletic fielding make him a total team man.

To highlight his achievements even better, he was the youngest captain for India in the T20I format at the age of 23. Raina is also the first Indian to hit 100 sixes in the IPL.

#2 Ashish Nehra

Ashish Nehra played cricket for nearly two decades

Indian team’s smiling assassin, Nehra spearheaded the Indian pace attack for a large part of the previous decade. In a career that spanned over 18 years, he was plagued by several injuries but made numerous comebacks. The Delhi pacer has the best bowling figures by an Indian in World Cup - 6 for 23 against England in Durban in World Cup 2003. Six wickets in One-Day cricket are not an easy task, or a stroke of luck, but Nehra has done it twice – the next time being his spell of 6 for 59 against Sri Lanka in 2005.

235 wickets from 164 international games definitely calls for a national award, considering the fact that several cricketers have won the Arjuna Award since its inception in 1961.

#1 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni is the only captain in the world to have won three ICC trophies

When MS Dhoni was conferred with Padma Bhushan a few days ago, he became the 11th Indian cricketer to get the third highest civilian honor.

Padma Shri in 2009, ICC ODI player of the year 2009 and 2010, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2007, Padma Bhushan in 2018, 3 ICC trophies, and a lot more, former India captain MS Dhoni has almost all the prestigious awards under his belt, except for the Arjuna Award, which is the most common achievement for any cricketer who has achieved substantial success. The legend from Ranchi, a cricketing backwater, should probably have received the award at the start of his career.