The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India bestows the Arjuna Award on recipients who have made notable contributions to the game of cricket internationally.
The athlete's performance during the previous four years is taken into consideration for the prize, along with "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, and a sense of discipline."
A bronze statue of Arjuna, one of the Pandavas and a skilled archer from the Indian epic Mahabharata is given to the recipient of the Arjuna Award. The Arjuna Award winners get a diploma, a ceremonial outfit, and a 15 lakh rupee cash reward. The award is often given out on August 29 at National Sports Day.
Twelve women have received the Arjuna Award out of the 57 cricketers who have received it so far. Former captains Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virat Kohli are some well-known individuals who have won the Arjuna Award in cricket.
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Salim Durani was the first Indian cricket player to win the Arjuna Award. 1961 saw him get honours. The all-around player, who was recognized for his ability to bat hard and was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler, was born in Afghanistan. During his 29 Test matches for India, he amassed 1202 runs and claimed 75 wickets. After his performances against England in 1961–1962, when he took eight and ten wickets in Kolkata and Chennai, respectively, Durani became a cult figure.
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Shantha Rangaswamy was the first female cricket player to win the Arjuna Award, having done so in 1976. From 1976 until 1991, she played for India in 16 Test matches and 19 One-Day Internationals. She is also the first female cricket player to be honoured by the BCCI with a lifetime achievement award. In 1976, when playing the West Indies, the Indian women's cricket team won their first-ever Test match under her leadership. She received the Arjuna Award in the same year that this occurred.
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Arjuna Award winner in 1977–1978 Gundappa Viswanath made his Test debut for India against Australia in 1969 and captained the team for a short period in 1979–1980. Although India lost both of the games he captained, he received a great deal of appreciation for his achievements. At his best, Viswanath was in the mid-1970s, particularly when India played host to the powerful West Indies for a five-match Test series. Viswanath got 97 runs out of his team's total of 190 against a bowling attack that included the dreaded Andy Roberts; this innings was thought to be one of the finest by an Indian. India defeated the West Indies by 100 runs because of his innings.
Wisden 100 rated his undefeated 97 as the second-best non-century innings as well. Throughout his career, Viswanath had few challenges from Australia and the West Indies, two bowling assaults he averaged over 50 against.
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While Mohammad Azharuddin's off-field repertoire hasn't been very impressive, the former Indian cricket team captain was a joy to see. Azharuddin made his international debut in December 1984, hitting three hundred and one half-century in his first series against England. Azharudding played 16 Tests and 41 One-Day Internationals between 1984 and 1986, scoring four centuries and eight fifties. His record of three centuries in his first three Tests has yet to be broken.
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Mithali Raj, the captain of India's ODI women's team, personifies everything that the national sport has to offer. Set an exemplary example, Mithali Raj received the Arjuna Award in 2003, barely five years after becoming global. Similar to Azharuddin, 16-year-old Raj began her career against Ireland ladies with a scorching undefeated hundred and proceeded to hit two half-centuries in her subsequent four games. Regarding her Test achievements, she struck an incredible 214 against the ladies of England in 2002.
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The Arjuna Award for cricket was granted to Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan in recognition of his outstanding efforts to the Indian cricket team over the past several years, particularly in the white-ball format.
After Virat Kohli (114 innings), the Delhi-born cricketer became the second-fastest Indian to reach 5000 ODI runs (118 innings) in 2019. Shikhar Dhawan led India to a 2-1 series victory earlier this year while playing in an ODI tour of Sri Lanka, where he was captain for the first time.
The southpaw has also shown to be a reliable player for his team in cricket, amassing more than 500 runs in the previous three Indian T20 League seasons.
| Sr No | Name | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shikhar Dhawan | 2021 |
| 2 | Deepti Sharma and Ishant Sharma | 2020 |
| 3 | Ravindra Jadeja and Poonam Yadav | 2019 |
| 4 | Smriti Mandhana | 2018 |
| 5 | Harmanpreet Kaur and Cheteshwar Pujara | 2017 |
| 6 | Ajinkya Rahane | 2016 |
| 7 | Rohit Sharma | 2015 |
| 8 | Ravichandran Ashwin | 2014 |
| 9 | Virat Kohli | 2013 |
| 10 | Yuvraj Singh | 2012 |
| 11 | Zaheer Khan | 2011 |
| 12 | Jhulan Goswami | 2010 |
| 13 | Gautam Gambhir | 2009 |
| 14 | Anjum Chopra | 2006 |
| 15 | Anju Jain | 2005 |
| 16 | Mithali Raj and Harbhajan Singh | 2003 |
| 17 | Virender Sehwag | 2002 |
| 18 | VVS Laxman | 2001 |
| 19 | Venkatesh Prasad | 2000 |
| 20 | Rahul Dravid and Nayan Mongia | 1998 |
| 21 | Sourav Ganguly and Ajay Jadeja | 1997 |
| 22 | Javagal Srinath | 1996 |
| 23 | Anil Kumble | 1995 |
| 24 | Sachin Tendulkar | 1994 |
| 25 | Manoj Prabhakar and Kiran More | 1993 |
| 26 | Madan Lal | 1989 |
| 27 | Sandhya Agarwal and Mohammad Azharuddin | 1986 |
| 28 | Shubhangi Kulkarni | 1985 |
| 29 | Ravi Shastri | 1984 |
| 30 | Diana Edulji | 1983 |
| 31 | Mohinder Amarnath | 1982 |
| 32 | Dilip Vengsarkar | 1981 |
| 33 | Chetan Chauhan and Syed Kirmani | 1980 |
| 34 | Kapil Dev | 1979 |
| 35 | Gundappa Viswanath | 1977 |
| 36 | Shantha Rangaswamy | 1976 |
| 37 | Sunil Gavaskar | 1975 |
| 38 | Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Eknath Solkar | 1972 |
| 39 | Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan | 1971 |
| 40 | Dilip Sardesai | 1970 |
| 41 | Bishan Singh Bedi | 1969 |
| 42 | Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas | 1968 |
| 43 | Ajit Wadekar | 1967 |
| 44 | Chandu Borde | 1966 |
| 45 | Vijay Manjrekar | 1965 |
| 46 | Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi | 1964 |
| 47 | Salim Durani | 1961 |
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