BCCI recommends Cheteshwar Pujara and Harmanpreet Kaur for Arjuna Award

What’s the story?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have recommended Cheteshwar Pujara and Harmanpreet Kaur for the prestigious Arjuna Award for 2017. However, the board did not nominate any cricketer for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

“We have sent Cheteshwar and Harmanpreet’s name for the Arjuna award. The names have been forwarded to the Ministry of Sports. Both were exceptional performers during last season and were unanimous choices from our end,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on Monday.

The Background

Last year, Ajinkya Rahane received the Arjuna Award while Rohit Sharma won the honour in 2015. Some of the other active Indian cricketers who have previously received the award include Harbhajan Singh (2003), Mithali Raj (2003), Gautam Gambhir (2009), Jhulan Goswami (2010), Yuvraj Singh (2012), Virat Kohli (2013) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2014).

The heart of the matter

If the award selection committee of the Sports Ministry approves their names, then Pujara and Kaur will become the 50^th and 51^st Indian cricketers to receive the Arjuna Award. The award consists of a statuette, a certificate, a ceremonial dress and prize money of INR 5 Lakhs. The honours for 2017 are set to be presented during August.

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Having made his debut in 2010, Pujara has scored 3798 runs from 48 Tests at an average of 51.32 including 11 centuries and 15 fifties. A resilient batsman at the vital number three position, the right-hander played a key role in helping India win 10 of their 13 Tests during the recently completed 2016/17 season.

28-year-old Harmanpreet has represented her country in 2 Tests, 64 ODIs and 68 T20Is. Apart from being a dynamic batter who can adapt her game to different situations, she can also chip in with crucial wickets with her off-breaks. Last year, she also became the first Indian cricketer to be signed up by a team in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).

Parallels from history

Flamboyant all-rounder Salim Durani was the first Indian cricketer to win the Arjuna Award. Among the 49 cricketers to have won the award thus far, nine were part of the women’s team.

Author‘s Take

While Pujara has been instrumental to India’s ascent to the top of the Test rankings, Kaur has also made vital contributions to the women's team winning the T20I series in Australia as well as the Asia Cup in recent times. The Arjuna Award should give immense confidence to both cricketers and motivate them to continue their impressive work.