Mohammed Shami receives the Arjuna Award (Courtesy: Screenshot/Twitter)
On Tuesday, Premier India fast bowler Mohammed Shami was conferred with the Arjuna Award 2023 for his brilliant performances. For the uninitiated, the Arjuna Award is the second-highest athletic honor, given for good performance over the previous four years and for showing qualities like leadership, sportsmanship, and a sense of discipline.
Shami received the award on the back of his brilliant performance in 2023. He was the leading wicket-taker in the World Cup 2023 with 24 scalps at an average of 10.70 and a strike rate of 12.20, breaking several records. He had the best figures of 7/57 in the quadrennial showpiece event.
President #DroupadiMurmu confers Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2023 upon Mohammed Shami (Cricket)@rashtrapatibhvn | @YASMinistry pic.twitter.com/O91R7S31Jq
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) January 9, 2024
Shami admitted that being conferred with the Arjuna Award is like a dream for him.
“This award is a dream; life passes and people are not able to win this award. I am happy that I have been nominated for this award. It is like a dream for me to get this award because my whole life I have seen many people receiving this award,” Mohammed Shami had told ANI.
Apart from Shami, archers Ojas Pravin Deotale, Sheetal Devi, and Aditi Gopichand Swami, wrestler Antim Panghal are among the athletes who received the Arjuna Award on Tuesday at Rashtrapati Bhawan by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu.
National Sports Award 2023 Recipients
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (badminton).
List of Arjun Awardees: Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket) Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Parul Chaudhary and Murali Sreeshankar (athletics), Mohd Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Divyakriti Singh and Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey), Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pinky (lawn ball), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis).
Dronacharya Award (regular category) for outstanding coaches: Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Mahaveer Prasad Saini (para athletics), Shivendra Singh (hockey), Ganesh Prabhakar Devrukhkar (mallakhamb).
Dronacharya Award (life-time category) for outstanding coaches: Jaskirat Singh Grewal (golf), Bhaskaran E (kabaddi), Jayanta Kumar Pushilal (table tennis).
Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement: Manjusha Kanwar (badminton), Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey), Kavitha Selvaraj (kabaddi).
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (overall winner university); Lovely Professional University, Punjab (1st runner -up), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (2nd runner-up).
