By Admin 
A shocking decision has come this year regarding the country’s biggest sports honor Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna. It has been decided not to give Khel Ratna to any player for the year 2024–25. The special thing is that no cricketer is included in this year’s list. The names of women’s cricket legends Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana were also discussed, but the selection committee has not approved their names.
Hardik Singh’s name in discussion
Amidst the debate regarding Khel Ratna, the name of Indian hockey team midfielder Hardik Singh also came up. Seeing his consistently good performance in the Olympics and international tournaments, many veterans called him a strong contender for the Khel Ratna. However, in the final decision, the selection committee decided not to give this honor to anyone this year.
Long list of Arjuna Award
While there is silence on Khel Ratna, the nomination list for Arjuna Award is quite long. It includes players from many different sports, not just cricket, which shows the increasing diversity of sports in India.
The names being considered for the Arjuna Award include Tejaswin Shankar and Priyanka (athletics), Narendra (boxing), Vidit Gujarati and Divya Deshmukh (chess), Dhanush Srikanth (def shooting), Pranati Nayak (gymnastics), Rajkumar Pal and Lalremsiami (hockey), Surjit and Pooja (kabaddi), Rudransh Khandelwal (para shooting), Ekta Bhayan (para athletics), Akhil Sheoran and Names like Mehuli Ghosh (shooting), Sutirtha Mukherjee (table tennis), Sonam Malik (wrestling), Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand (badminton) are included.
Indian sports progressing beyond cricket
Overall, the decision of not giving Khel Ratna may be controversial, but the list of Arjuna Awards makes it clear that apart from cricket, players of many sports in India are performing brilliantly at the international level. Now everyone’s eyes are on the final announcement of the selection committee.