Mohammed Shami nominated for Arjuna Award, Satwik-Chirag for Khel Ratna
New Delhi, Dec 13: Pacer Mohammed Shami, one of the architects of India's near successful World Cup campaign, has been nominated for this year's Arjuna Award, while men's doubles badminton pair of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were selected for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
Shami, 33, had a spectacular run in the ODI World Cup, where India finished second best, losing to Australia in the final.
As per the ministry's sources, a special request was made by the BCCI to the sports ministry to include Shami's name as originally he didn't feature in the list of the country's second-highest sporting honour.
Shami was the leading wicket-taker in the World Cup, with 24 wickets to his name in seven outings.
After sitting out of the first four games, Shami shone bright when given the opportunity, claiming 24 wickets at an average of just 5.26.
Besides Shami, 16 other sportspersons have been nominated for the Arjuna Award. They include men's hockey players Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Sushila Chanu, archers Ojas Pravin Deotale and Aditi Gopichand Swami, boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin, chess player R Vaishali, golfer Diksha Dagar, shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, wrestler Antim Panghal and paddler Ayhika Mukherjee among others.
There are five nominations for the Dronacharya Award -- Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess) and Shivendra Singh (hockey).
Kavita (kabaddi), Manjusha Kanwar (badminton) and Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey) are the nominees for the Dhyan Chand Lifetime award.
Nominees for Sports Awards:
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (badminton).
Arjuna Award: Mohammed Shami (cricket), Ajay Reddy (blind cricket) Ojas Pravin Deotale, Aditi Gopichand Swami (archery), Sheetal Devi (para archery), Parul Chaudhary and M Sreeshankar (athletics), Mohd Hussamuddin (boxing), R Vaishali (chess), Divyakriti Singh and Anush Agarwalla (equestrian), Diksha Dagar (golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Sushila Chanu (hockey), Pinky (lawn ball), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting), Antim Panghal (wrestling), Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis).
Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award: Kavita (kabaddi), Manjusha Kanwar (badminton)
Vineet Kumar Sharma (hockey).
Dronacharya Award: Ganesh Prabhakaran (mallakhamb), Mahavir Saini (para athletics), Lalit Kumar (wrestling), RB Ramesh (chess), Shivendra Singh (hockey).
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“Mistake owing to communication gap,” MLA Yatnal clarifies over alleged derogatory speech on Prophet
Vijayapura: Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has denied making any derogatory statement about Prophet Muhammad, clarifying that there was a misstatement during his speech at a Ram Navami event in Hubballi. "I did not speak about Prophet Muhammad. I meant to refer to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, but there was a mistake in the speed of speech," he said addressing reporters on Monday.
He alleged that members of the Congress, frustrated by their hooliganism and failure to collect their hafta (extortion) in Vijayapura are using the Prophet as an excuse to speak against me. “There is no culture of denigrating another religion in Hinduism. Our gurus and elders have not taught us that,” he said.
Responding to another controversy involving an audio clip in which he was allegedly threatened, Yatnal said the police are investigating the matter and that those behind it will soon be exposed. “No one can finish me. The Hindus of Karnataka are with me. If someone tries to finish me, the whole state will rise in protest,” he warned.
