Mohammed Shami Receives Arjuna Award from President Droupadi Murmu

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami was presented with the Arjuna Award at the National Sports Awards by Indian President Drupadi Murmu on Tuesday (January 9). Shami's name was recommended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after his sensational performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where he took the most wickets (24) with a best record of 7 wickets for 57 in the semi-final against New Zealand.

"This award is a dream, life passes and people are not able to win this award. I am happy that I have been nominated for this award." ~ Shami

Shami in ODI World Cup 2023 -

When it comes to Shami's performance in the ODI World Cup held in India, he was not part of India's starting lineup for the first four matches. An injury to Hardik Pandya forced him into the XI and Shami made an impact in the first match against New Zealand at Dharamshala with figures of 5/54.

He also took 5 wickets in the group stage match between India and Sri Lanka for 18 only, and in the semi-final match against Kiwis, he again took a fifer and not only fifer but a 7 wickets haul for only 57 runs, his third in the mega tournament and turned upside down the direction of the match and led India towards the winning path.

Besides Shami, as many as 25 other athletes have won the Arjuna Award. This list is dominated by India's best athletes who made a historic appearance at the Asian Games to be held in China in 2023. In this high-profile tournament, India outscored itself, winning 107 medals (the most for the country in a single tournament).

List of sportspersons to receive Arjuna Award in 2023 -

1. Ojas Pravin Deotale (Archery)
2. Aditi Gopichand Swami (Archery)
3. Sreeshankar M (Athletics) 
4. Parul Chaudhary (Athletics) 
5. Mohameed Hussamuddin (Boxing)
6. R Vaishali (Chess)
7. Mohammed Shami (Cricket)
8. Anush Agarwalla (Equestrian)
9. Divyakriti Singh (Equestrian Dressage)
10. Diksha Dagar (Golf)
11. Krishan Bahadur Pathak (Hockey) 
12. Pukhrambam Sushila Chanu (Hockey)
13. Pawan Kumar (Kabaddi)
14. Ritu Negi (Kabaddi)
15. Nasreen (Kho-Kho)
16. Pinki (Lawn Bowls)
17. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (Shooting)
18. Esha Singh (Shooting)
19. Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (Squash)
20. Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis)
21. Sunil Kumar (Wrestling)
22. Antim (Wrestling)
23. Naorem Roshibina Devi (Wushu)
24. Sheetal Devi (Para Archery)
25. Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (Blind Cricket)
26. Prachi Yadav (Para Canoeing)

Here is list of cricketers who received Arjuna Awards -