Shikhar Dhawan receives Arjuna Award from Indian President Ram Nath Kovind

Veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has been awarded with Arjuna Award for his magnificent contribution towards Indian cricket. Having made his international debut in 2010, the left-handed batter didn’t really burst onto the scenes and couldn’t cement his place in the first few years. However, things changed in 2013 and Dhawan unleashed his best and played some remarkable knocks across formats.

The southpaw has a special knack of shining in ICC events as he was India’s highest run-getter in the 2013, 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2015 World Cup. Besides white-ball cricket, Dhawan has played some dazzling knocks in the longest format of the game as well. With the left-handed batter becoming such a significant figure in Indian cricket, the Indian government felicitated him with the Arjuna Award.

Shikhar Dhawan honoured by the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind

Dhawan received the honour from none other than Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Saturday (November 13). Besides Dhawan, Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj, Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist Pramod Bhagat, Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri, and Hockey team captain Manpreet Singh were conferred with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2021.

So so happy for @SDhawan25. Top man who deserves this and so much more. Legend always. pic.twitter.com/r6NXpTEoAl

— Indranil Das Blah (@indranildasblah) November 13, 2021

Speaking of Dhawan, the southpaw is known for his controlled aggression as he scores runs quickly but also emphasizes staying long at the crease. Owing to the same, he has slammed as many as 24 international centuries – 17 in ODIs and 7 in Tests – to date. As far as his numbers are concerned, Dhawan has appeared in a total of 34 Test matches, 145 ODI matches, and 67 T20I matches for India, amassing 2315 runs 6105 runs and 1759 runs respectively.

Meanwhile, Dhawan’s last international assignment was three ODIs and as many T20Is in Sri Lanka earlier this year. The southpaw, in absence of many star players, led Team India in that tour and did pretty well. While the Men in Blue clinched the ODI series 2-1, they lost the T20I series by the same margin. Notably, the 35-year-old hasn’t been picked in India’s squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand. Hence, it would be interesting to see when he comes back.