List of Cricketers felicitated with Arjuna Award

It always feels special when one’s efforts are recognised and appreciated at the highest level, and it becomes even more special if it's your own country acknowledging your achievements. The Indian Government annually felicitates athletes for their outstanding performance in sports and games through Arjuna Award. It is the second-highest sports award in India, given to individuals who have consistently showcased excellence and brought honour to the nation. It is named after Arjuna, one of the characters in Mahabharata. Recipients of this prestigious award are selected by a special committee that considers their achievements, dedication, and contribution to Indian sports.

Shikhar Dhawan with Arjuna Award
Credit: India Today 

Players receiving this prestigious award are highly appreciated for their work through the length and breadth of the country. They receive a bronze statuette of Arjuna, a certificate, ceremonial dress and a cash price worth ₹15 Lakhs. Apart from the monetary benefits, it brings a lot of esteem to be recognised as an Arjuna awardee.

Arjuna Award
Credit: Badminton Association of India 

Here is a list of all the cricketers who have received the Arjuna Award so far:

1961- Salim Durani

1964- Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi

1965- Vijay Manjrekar

1966- Chandu Borde

1967- Ajit Wadekar 

1968- Erapalli Anantharo Srinivas

1970- Dilip Sardesai

1971- Srinivasarghavan Venkataraghavan 

1972-  Bhagat Subramanya Chandrashekhar and Eknath Solkar

1975- Sunil Gavaskar 

1976- Shantha Rangaswamay

1977- Gundappa Viswanath 

1979- Kapil Dev

1980- Chetan Chauhan and Syed Kirmani

1981- Dilip Vengasarkar

1982- Mohinder Amarnath

1983- Diana Edulji

1984- Ravi Shastri

1985- Shubhangi Kulkarni

1986- Sandhya Agarwal

1989- Madan Lal

1993- Manoj Prabhakar and Kiran More

1994- Sachin Tendulkar 

1995- Anil Kumble

1996- Javagal Srinath

1997- Sourav Ganguly and Ajay Jadeja 

1998- Rahul Dravid and Nayan Mongia

2000- Venkatesh Prasad

2001- VVS Laxman

2002- Virender Sehwag 

2003- Mithali Raj and Harbhajan Singh

2005- Anju Jain

2006- Anjum Chopra

2009- Gautam Gambhir

2010- Jhulan Goswami 

2011- Zaheer Khan

2012- Yuvraj Singh

2013- Virat Kohli 

2014- Ravichandran Ashwin 

2015- Rohit Sharma

2016- Ajinkya Rahane 

2017- Harmanpreet Kaur and Cheteshwar Pujara

2018- Smriti Mandhana 

2019- Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav

2020- Deepti Sharma and Ishant Sharma

2021- Shikhar Dhawan

2023- Mohammad Shami


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