Ashwin, Mithali to be nominated by BCCI for Khel Ratna; Dhawan, Rahul, Bumrah for Arjuna

India women's captain Mithali Raj and ace Test spinner Ravichandran Ashwin are set to be nominated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - the country's highest sporting honour. Besides, senior batsman Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be nominated for the Arjuna award.

Mithali's career has spanned over two decades for the Indian women's side. She completed 22 years in international cricket last week. The 38 year-old is also the leading run getter in ODIs with more than 7000 runs. Only Sachin Tendulkar (22 years 91 days) has a longer career than Mithali Raj across men’s and women’s cricket. No other cricketer has been active in international cricket for as long as 22 years.

While Ashwin, who is already an Arjuna awardee like Mithali, has also been a consistent performer for India in Test cricket. He has taken 413 wickets in 79 Tests besides 150 and 42 scalps in ODIs and T20s though he doesn't play for India in the shorter formats.

Rohit Sharma was among five recipients who were awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2020. He was the fourth cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli to be honoured with the award last year.

Last year, 74 recipients were bestowed with the awards. The prize money was also increased significantly with the Khel Ratna awardees receiving Rs 25 lakh, Arjuna awardees Rs 15 lakh, Dronacharya (Lifetime) awardees Rs 15 lakh, and Dhyanchand winners Rs 10 lakh.