Recently, ‘Hitman Sharma’ of the cricket world, Rohit Sharma was nominated by BCCI for the highest sporting award in the country – the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. Rohit Sharma joined the elite list of cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and many more, who have won the prestigious award.
Here, we bring you a list of three cricketers who didn’t win the Rajiv Khel Ratna Award. Have a look:
1. Rahul Dravid:
Cricket is a gentleman’s game and no one lives up to this title better than Rahul Gandhi. His contribution to the Indian cricket team has been immense.
Rahul Dravid is one player whose contribution to the cricket team goes beyond his stats. As per the record books, he has played 160 odd Test matches and scored 13,000 runs, however, the record books don’t show the impact he has made, especially on the younger generation.
He was fondly called as ‘Mr.Dependable’ because of his patience, concentration, and grit. His sound knowledge of the game, technique, and ability to help him bat for hours and hours.
However, he is one of the greatest cricketers who hasn’t received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel award. But his greatness can’t be cemented by an award and his legacy is way beyond these trophies.
2. Sourav Ganguly:
Former Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly, who is fondly called as ‘Dada’, was a leader par excellence. During his time, he identified players like Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, who later went on to become legends of this game.
Sourav Ganguly is responsible for introducing modern cricket in India. Under his leadership, the Indian cricket team won 21 of the 49 Test matches. Besides his captaincy, Sourav Ganguly’s record as a player is stellar too. Having scored 7,212 runs at an average of 42.17 in Test matches and 11,363 runs in ODI cricket at an average of 41.02, he was an all-format player.
Despite being one of the most successful skippers and cricketer of India, he hasn’t got the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
1. Zaheer Khan:
Zaheer Khan is regarded as one of the finest bowlers to have played for team India, he was regarded as the master of reverse swing. The left-arm pacer was one of the heroes of India’s World Cup-winning 2011 team.
His heroics in the league match against England in the 2011 World Cup are still afresh in everyone’s mind. However, that wasn’t the only match where Zaheer Khan stole the show. With his brilliant bowling and athletic skills, Zaheer Khan has saved many matches for team India.
With over 300 Test wickets and 282 ODI wickets, he is regarded as the best bowlers to have played for India. Despite this fact, he hasn’t received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna yet.
