Virat Kohli & Mirabai Chanu Conferred With This Prestigious Award

Indian men's cricket team captain Virat Kohli and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu have been conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by President Ram Nath Kovind. The annual national sports awards were bestowed on star athletes that the country has seen over the past year.

Virat Kohli is only the third cricketer to be awarded the Khel Ratna, after Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. BCCI had recommended his name for the past three years. But in 2016, owing to the Olympics, the award went to wrestler Sakshi Malik, badminton player PV Sindhu, and gymnast Deepa Karmakar.

Khel Ratna, the highest sporting award, is usually awarded to two athletes with exceptional cases taking the count to three with shuttler Kidambi Srikanth also recommended subject to Sports Ministry’s approval.