BCCI ignores Mithali Raj's name for Khel Ratna; recommends ​Cheteshwar Pujara and Harmanpreet Kaur for Arjuna award

PTI

New Delhi: Amid Team India's felicitation spree for their astounding World Cup campaign, in England, the nation's cricketing board BCCI has failed to send the Indian skipper Mithali Raj's name to the Sports Ministry for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award ahead of the deadline.

Mithali was up and rolling in the ICC Women's World Cup 2017, where she not only became the all time highest scorer in women's ODI cricket, but also became the first Indian batter to amass 1000 runs in World Cup. Along with her brilliance with the bat, her stellar captaincy guided the Women in Blue for the second World Cup final.

Despite a narrow five-run defat in the finals against hosts England, the nation stood behind the Indian eves, supporting the team and lauding them as true inspiration for many. Regardless of all the effort, the Indian board didn't recommend her name prior to the deadline, April 30, to the Sports Ministry. BCCI, although did recommend the names of Chesteshwar Pujara and Harmanpreet Kaur for the Arjuna award.

Yes, there is still hope. BCCI can still send her name as a late entry with a bit of intervention from Vijay Goel himself.

Other entries for the Khel Ratna award are – former Indian hockey team captain Sardar Singh, boxer Manoj Kumar, and the four Paralympic medallists – Deepa Malik, Devendra Jhajharia, Mariappan Thagaveluu and Varun Singh Bhati.