Swapna, Bumrah nominated for Arjuna, Harbhajan's plea for Khel Ratna rejected

Manjit and Dutee missed out the chance of winning Arjuna award based on the ranking system as they were placed at fourth and fifth on the chart at the time of recommending their names.

Hyderabad: Universiade 2019 gold medallist Dutee Chand has missed out on this year's Arjuna award recommendation while 2011 World Cup-winning off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's application for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award has been rejected by the sports ministry. Asian Games gold medallist in the men's 800m, Manjit Singh has also missed out on Arjuna award recommendation.

Heptathlete Swapna Barman, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja are some of the big names who have been nominated by their respective sports authorities for the Arjuna, the oldest national sports award of India. The winners will receive a cash prize of Rs 5 Lakhs, a bronze statue of Arjuna and a certificate from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of India.

The sports ministry has been framing out the list of athletes whose names will be sent to the soon-to-be constituted Khel Ratna and Arjuna award committee for consideration. The selected names will subsequently be forwarded to sports minister Kiren Rijiju for final approval.

Dutee Chand has recently won gold medal at the Universiade 2019.

Among the Indian sports bodies, BCCI has nominated the names of speedsters Bumrah, Shami, all-rounder Jadeja and woman cricketer Poonam Yadav for the Arjuna award. However, BCCI stayed away from recommending anyone for this year's Khel Ratna award.

Harbhajan's name was recommended by the Punjab government for the Khel Ratna, but the ministry received his nomination on June 25, 2019. The deadline for sending the application was April 30, 2019. Hence, the application was rejected.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) nominated names of five athletes- shot-putter Tejinder Pal Singh Toor, heptathlete Barman, triple jumper Arpinder Singh, Dutee and Manjit. However, a sports federation can only recommend three names. Manjit and Dutee missed out the chance of winning Arjuna award based on the ranking system as they were placed at fourth and fifth on the chart at the time of recommending their names.

Dutee's name was also recommended by the Odisha government but it sent her name to the sports ministry after April 30, the deadline for sending recommendations.

Harbhajan Singh won India 2007 WT20 and 2011 World Cup.

Bengal's heptathlete Barman, Toor and Arpinder were nominated for Arjuna, thanks to their gold medal-winning performances at the Jakarta Asian Games and other international events.

Meanwhile, the sports ministry asked the BCCI to either send a revised list of three cricketers or provide the rankings of recommended cricketers.