The star Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami is set to receive a prestigious Arjuna Award for his sensational performance in 2023. The experienced bowler was a leading wicket-taker in the recently concluded ICC ODI World Cup 2023 with 24 wickets in just seven innings and is the only cricketer among 26 athletes to receive an award in 2023.
Arjuna Award, India's second-highest sporting honour, is given for outstanding performance in Sports and Games. Shami enjoyed a sensational year as he spearheaded the Indian bowling attack during the team's dominant road to the World Cup final.
The 33-year-old right-arm pacer from Uttar Pradesh mainly dominated ODI cricket with 43 wickets in just 19 innings and also provided consistently impressive performances in red-ball cricket. Shami played a crucial role in India's becoming no.1 ICC team across all three formats this year.
Meanwhile, 25 other athletes are also set to receive Arjuna Award for their heroics in 2023. India's star badminton duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are to be awarded with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour.
Full list of Arjuna Award 2023 winners:
- Ojas Pravin Deotale (Archery)
- Aditi Gopichand Swami (Archery)
- Sreeshankar M (Athletics)
- Parul Chaudhary (Athletics)
- Mohameed Hussamuddin (Boxing)
- R Vaishali (Chess)
- Mohammed Shami (Cricket)
- Anush Agarwalla (Equestrian)
- Divyakriti Singh (Equestrian Dressage)
- Diksha Dagar (Golf)
- Krishan Bahadur Pathak (Hockey)
- Pukhrambam Sushila Chanu (Hockey)
- Pawan Kumar (Kabaddi)
- Ritu Negi (Kabaddi)
- Nasreen (Kho-Kho)
- Pinki (Lawn Bowls)
- Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (Shooting)
- Esha Singh (Shooting)
- Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (Squash)
- Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis)
- Sunil Kumar (Wrestling)
- Antim (Wrestling)
- Naorem Roshibina Devi (Wushu)
- Sheetal Devi (Para Archery)
- Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (Blind Cricket)
- Prachi Yadav (Para Canoeing)