new delhi: Athletes and coaches are celebrating as the National Sports Awards were announced on Thursday. The inclusion of shooters Manu Bhaker for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Deepali Deshpande for the Dronacharya Award is proof the first lot which was ‘leaked’ was incorrect.
“I am thankful to people like you are writing about the effort I continue to make as a coach,” Deepali told a website. “This is a very proud moment for me and the entire shooting fraternity,” added Deepali.
What is intriguing in this list is how a single cricketer has not been named. One thought coach Rahul Dravid, who guided the Indian team to the ICC T20 World Cup would get a Dronacharya Award. No, he has not been included in the list. It may be too late to make a course correction. Plus, Dravid has left the Indian coaching job and moved back to Rajasthan Royals for the IPL. Dravid’s name should have been taken up by the awards committee suo moto. Or, were they sleeping at the wheel? This process of inviting applications is nice, but it has not worked a 100 per cent.
More shocking is the fact that Test captain Jasprit Bumrah is yet to get an Arjuna Award. He had apparently missed out five years back when the BCCI had made a recommendation. What Bumrah has done for Indian cricket in all the three formats is being praised by the global fraternity.
He was the best bowler on view in the ICC T20 World Cup, with a brilliant economy rate. Add to it the way he has destroyed batters in Test cricket in 2024, he is the talk of cricketing circles.
Even the Aussie media is going gaga.
What kind of screening goes into these awards winners’ names is a mystery. Does it work in such a way that committee members from various sports push for only their disciplines is a question which must be answered.
If they have ignored the name of Bumrah, it is unpardonable after he claimed 71 Test wickets in 2024 and 15 wickets in the ICC T20 World Cup. If there is a rule an athlete has to first get the Arjuna Award, what is stopping Bumrah. He would have been one more good addition to even the Khel Ratna list. If this is the plight of the Indian Test skipper, something drastically is wrong. One can imagine a kabaddi or kho kho player’s name is lesser known, but Bumrah missing out, this is s shame.