India’s World Cup hero, Mohammed Shami, will receive the prestigious Arjuna Award from President Droupadi Murmu on 9 January. His name was recommended for the award by the BCCI before the Indian sports ministry approved the proposal.
Shami joins the list of many celebrated cricketers, who have been honoured with this award ion the past. Some of the most prominent names are Team India captain Rohit Sharma and former India captains, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli among others.
Shami was not deemed suitable to represent India in the World Cup as the player from the Uttar Pradesh was forced to sit on the bench for the first four matches in the competition. However, Hardik Pandya’s unavailability due to injury and Shardul Thakur’s poor performance meant that the team management had no option but to pick him up for the fifth match in the competition.
Shami silenced his critics by picking up five wickets in the first match. He followed it up with two more five-wicket hauls including a match where he dismissed seven batters.
He went on to dismiss 24 batters in the competition, the highest by any bowler. He was declared the most valuable player of the World Cup.