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Trophy wins ignored! No Indian cricketer among Arjuna Award nominees

Soumyajit Dutta

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and the Arjuna Award in the right [Source: @sapphire_storm, @Adil_xoxo/X]Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and the Arjuna Award in the right [Source: @sapphire_storm, @Adil_xoxo/X]

While Indian cricketers add up to a massive tally of the honourable Arjuna Award, including names like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Virender Sehwag, Mithali Raj etc, this year, no cricketer got nominated for the award.

Notably, Indian hockey vice-captain Hardik Singh is set to receive the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, standing as the sole nominee for the country's highest sporting honour this year.

The awards selection committee finalised its recommendations, which also include 24 athletes for the Arjuna Award across various sports. The nominations highlight a year where hockey and chess feature prominently, with no cricketers selected for the Arjuna Award.

What is the Arjuna Award presented by India?

The Arjuna Award is India’s second-highest sporting honour, given by the Government of India to recognise outstanding performances in sports.

Introduced in 1961, the award is presented every year to athletes who have shown consistent excellence at the international level over the past four years, along with qualities like discipline, leadership, and sportsmanship.

It covers a wide range of sports, including Olympic and international events, cricket, indigenous games, and sports for the physically challenged. 

The winners receive a bronze Arjuna statuette, a cash prize of ₹15 lakh, a certificate, and a ceremonial dress.

The award is usually presented by the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan on National Sports Day.

Why Cricketers might have missed out on the nominations

While the list sees nominations from several emerging disciplines, shockingly, no cricketer was nominated for the achievement. India had a terrific year of success this year with the Champions Trophy 2025 victory and the Asia Cup 2025 win. 

Among Women’s cricket, the India Women bagged the World Cup by defeating South Africa in November and yet there were no recognitions.

A reason for the exclusion of cricketers might be tagged under the rule that "No Award will be made for a second time to the same person.” This already excludes the likes of Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the nominations who collected the accolade once already and hence, no selections.

Arjuna Award Nominees For 2025

Tejaswin Shankar (Athletics), Priyanka (Athletics), Mohd. Afsal (Athletics), Treesa Jolly (Badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (Badminton), Narendra (Boxing), Vidit Gujrathi (Chess), Divya Deshmukh (Chess), Dhanush Srikanth (Deaf Shooting), Pranati Nayak (Gymnastics), Raj Kumar Pal (Hockey), Lalremsiami (Hockey), Pooja (Kabaddi), Surjeet (Kabaddi), Nirmala Bhati (Kho-Kho), Rudransh Khandelwal (Para-Shooting), Ekta Bhyan (Para-Athletics), Padmanabh Singh (Polo), Arvind Singh (Rowing), Akhil Sheoran (Shooting), Mehuli Ghosh (Shooting), Sutirtha Mukherjee (Table Tennis), Sonam Malik (Wrestling), and Aarti (Yoga).