Team India's limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma has expressed gratitude towards the BCCI, his teammates, fans and family after getting nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Rohit's name was proposed for the highest sporting honour in the country by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Saturday (May 30).
The Government of India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had sought invitations for the respective awards with the period of consideration beginning 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2019.
"I' extremely honoured and humbled to be nominated by the BCCI for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, which is the highest sporting honour in India.
"I'm grateful to BCCI, to all my teammates, support staff, fans of the game and my family for sticking by me. Thank you very much," Rohit said in a video posted by the BCCI on Twitter.
Fondly known as the ‘Hitman’ of Indian cricket, Rohit Sharma has been a prolific run-getter in white-ball cricket over the years. He is the only batsman in the world to have scored three ODI double tons and four Twenty20 international centuries.
Rohit had a remarkable 2019 as he finished the year with most ODI runs. In 28 ODIs last year, he amassed 1490 runs at an average of 57.30 with 7 centuries. He also became the first batsman to smash 5 hundreds in a single edition of the World Cup and finished the tournament as the highest run-scorer (648 runs from 9 innings).
Sharma also left his mark in the longest format last year, becoming the first player to hit twin centuries in his maiden appearance as a Test opener.
"We went through a lot of data and considered various parameters before shortlisting the nominees. Rohit Sharma has set new benchmarks as a batsman and achieved scores people thought were not possible in the shorter formats of the game. We feel he is worthy of getting the prestigious Khel Ratna award for his commitment, conduct, consistency and his leadership skills," BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had said while proposing Rohit's name for the award.
