Shikhar Dhawan conferred Arjuna Award by President Kovind for contributions to Cricket

For his notable contributions to the Indian Men's National Cricket Team, Shikhar Dhawan was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award by President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday. Dhawan received the honour from President Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. In the same venue, several sportspersons including the likes of Indian women's cricket team skipper Mithali Raj, Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist Pramod Bhagat, Indian football skipper Sunil Chhetri and Hockey skipper Manpreet Singh were conferred with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2021.

Dhawan received the award for his stellar performance for the Indian cricket team since his debut in 2010. After becoming a regular appearance for India in 2012, Dhawan had appeared in a total of 34 Test matches, 145 ODI matches, and 67 T20I matches for India. In the process, he has amassed 2315 runs in Tests, 6105 runs in ODIs, and 1759 runs in the T20Is. In his last appearance for India, Dhawan led the team for a three-match T20I and three-match ODI series. 

Watch Shikhar Dhawan receiving the Arjuna Award-

Shikhar Dhawan didn't feature in India's ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 squad

Dhawan also had a fabulous 2021 season in the Indian Premier League while opening the batting for Delhi Capitals. He finished the tournament as the fourth-highest run-scorer after totalling 587 runs from 16 matches. He was a key player for Delhi Capitals in the recently concluded IPL 2021 as they reached the playoffs of the tournament under a first-time skipper Rishabh Pant. Dhawan was the highest run-scorer for the team above Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, and Shimron Hetmyer. However, he was left out of the Indian squad for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021. He also won't feature in the Indian T20 squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand but is expected to play for India in their long calendar in the upcoming season.

Along with Dhawan, the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist for India, Neeraj Chopra also received the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award. Boxer Lovlina Borgohain, Indian hockey player Sreejesh PR, multiple Paralympics medal winner Avani Lekhara and Paralympics gold medal winner Sumit Antil, Olympics medalist wrestlers Ravi Kumar also received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in new Delhi from the President of India.

(Twitter Image: @ANI)