BCCI to recommend Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma’s name for Arjuna Awards

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to recommend Deepti Sharma and Shikha Pandey’s name for the Arjuna Awards. The duo has been key members of the Indian Women’s team for the last couple of years and also played in the 2020 edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia. Due to their performance, the Women in Blue made their way to the final.

In the tournament, Shikha was one of their star performers, picking up seven wickets from five matches. Deepti, on the other hand, picked up four wickets and turned up with 116 runs at a decent average of 38.66 with a top score of an unbeaten 49. The names, which are shared for the honour, are likely to be received by the ministry after their approval.

Deepti and Poonam’s name forwarded to office bearers

“Yes, the office-bearers were given the names of Shikha and Deepti by the cricket operations team for not just their brilliant show in the World T20 in Australia where we finished as runners-up, but also for their consistent showing in the last season.

These two names have been forwarded to the office-bearers and are likely to be forwarded to the ministry for the Arjuna Awards once they approve,” a source was quoted as saying in Times Now. In the World Cup, India lost to Australia in the final.

Deepti made his debut back in 2014 when she was around 16 years old. In the next few years, she has come up the ranks and has featured regularly in the national team. In 54 ODIs and 48 T20Is, the Agra-born has scored 1417 and 423 runs respectively with a top score of 188. With the ball in hand, she has 117 wickets at the highest level with a couple of four-fers and a five-wicket haul.

Pandey, who turned 31 years on Tuesday, made his debut in 2014 itself. In two Tests, 52 ODIs and 50 T20Is, the veteran has four, 73 and 36 wickets respectively. She is no mug with the bat either, scoring a couple of fifties in ODI cricket. The duo of Deepti and Shikha have tormented a number of opponents in their careers.