Virat Kohli, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu to receive Khel Ratna on September 25: Sports Ministry

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NEW DELHI: India cricket captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will receive the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on September 25, confirmed the Sports Ministry in its announcement on Thursday. 

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was among the 20 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna Awards who will be honored at Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Ram Nath Kovind. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier in April nominated Indian skipper for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna honor. 

Kohli's name was also sent in 2016 but being the Olympic year, the three stars of Rio, PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Deepa Karmakar were conferred with the award. Kohli currently leads the ICC Test rankings for batsmen. 

Kohli will become the third cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar (1997) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2007) to receive the Khel Ratna Award.

The 29-year-old Kohli has 6147 runs in 71 Tests with 23 centuries and 9779 runs in 211 ODIs, including 35 tons.

Chanu was recommended for the prestigious award following her gold medal in the 48kg category at the World Championships last year. She also bagged the gold medal in this year's Commonwealth Games but didn't compete at the Asian Games due to injury.

The President will also present the Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awards on the same day.

The List of Awardees:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Virat Kohli and Mirabai Chanu.

Arjuna Awards: Neeraj Chopra, Jinson Johnson and Hima Das (Athletics); N Sikki Reddy (Badminton); Satish Kumar (Boxing); Smriti Mandhana (Cricket); Shubhankar Sharma (Golf); Manpreet Singh, Savita (Hockey); Ravi Rathore (Polo); Rahi Sarnobat, Ankur Mittal, Shreyasi Singh (Shooting); Manika Batra, G Sathiyan (Table Tennis); Rohan Bopanna (Tennis); Sumit (Wrestling); Pooja Kadian (Wushu); Ankur Dhama (Para-Athletics); Manoj Sarkar (Para-Badminton).

Dronacharya Awards: C A Kuttappa (Boxing); Vijay Sharma (Weightlifting); A Srinivasa Rao (Table Tennis); Sukhdev Singh Pannu (Athletics); Clarence Lobo (Hockey, Lifetime); Tarak Sinha (Cricket, Lifetime); Jiwan Kumar Sharma (Judo, Lifetime); V R Beedu (Athletics, Lifetime).

Dhyan Chand Awards: Satyadev Prasad (Archery); Bharat Kumar Chetry (Hockey); Bobby Aloysius (Athletics); Chougale Dadu Dattatray (Wrestling). 

(With PTI Inputs)