Know About Arjuna Award For Cricket

The Arjuna Award honors all eminent personalities who have striven to achieve excellence in Indian Cricket.
The Arjuna Award: One of the highest sporting honors in India, given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to athletes who have shown exemplary achievements in international events.
This award, in cricket, looks beyond mere performances on the field in the past four years while emphasizing other qualities such as leadership, sportsmanship, and discipline.
The Arjuna Award carries a bronze statuette of Arjuna, the famed archer from the Indian epic Mahabharata.Along with the honor, they are presented with a certificate, ceremonial attire, and a cash prize of INR 15 lakh. The award is usually presented on National Sports Day, August 29 each year.
Cricketers Honored with the Arjuna Award
So far, 58 cricketers have received this prestigious award, including 12 women. Some of the most notable names include legendary former captains like Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virat Kohli.
Firsts and Records in the History of the Arjuna Award
Salim Durani: First Indian Cricketer to Have the Arjuna Award Conferred Upon Him
The first cricketer to be offered the Arjuna Award was Salim Durani, in 1961. A player with all-round abilities, he was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler and a big hitter. He was born in Afghanistan and played in 29 Test matches for India, scoring 1,202 runs and taking 75 wickets. His famed exploits were in the 1961-62 series against England, where he took eight wickets in Kolkata and ten wickets in Chennai, marking him down firmly as a great icon of cricket.
Shantha Rangaswamy: First Woman Cricketer to Obtain the Arjuna Award
The first woman cricketer to receive the Arjuna Award was Shantha Rangaswamy in 1976. She played 16 Test matches and 19 ODIs for India between 1976-and 1991. Under her captaincy, the Indian women's team won their first-ever Test match against the West Indies in 1976. In recognition of her achievements, she also became the first female cricketer to receive the BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award.
Gundappa Viswanath: A Legendary Knock Without a Century
Gundappa Viswanath, who received the Arjuna Award in 1977-78, made his Test debut in 1969 against Australia. Despite captaining India in just two matches, his contributions were highly respected. One of his most remarkable performances came against the West Indies in 1974, where he scored 97 runs out of India’s 190. This innings, played against a fearsome bowling attack featuring Andy Roberts, is widely regarded as one of the greatest in Indian cricket history. Wisden 100 ranked it as the second-best non-century innings ever played.
Mohammad Azharuddin: The Only Player with Three Consecutive Centuries in His First Three Tests
Despite controversies off the field, Mohammad Azharuddin remains one of India’s most elegant batsmen. He burst onto the international scene in 1984 with a spectacular debut series against England, scoring three centuries in his first three Test matches—a feat unmatched to this day. By 1986, Azharuddin had already played 16 Tests and 41 ODIs, amassing four centuries and eight fifties. He was honored with the Arjuna Award in 1986.
Mithali Raj: A Cricket Prodigy at 16
Mithali Raj, the longest-serving captain of India’s women’s ODI team, was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2003. Her international career began in 1999, when she scored an unbeaten century on debut against Ireland at just 16 years old. She continued to impress, scoring a magnificent 214 in a Test match against England in 2002.
Recent Arjuna Award Recipients in Cricket
2021: Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan received the Arjuna Award in 2021 for his stellar performances in limited-overs cricket. In 2019, he became the second-fastest Indian to reach 5,000 ODI runs (118 innings), just behind Virat Kohli (114 innings). Dhawan captained India for the first time in an ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2021, leading the team to a 2-1 series victory. He has also been a consistent performer in the IPL, scoring 500+ runs in three consecutive seasons.
2023: Mohammed Shami
The Arjuna Award for cricket in 2023 was conferred upon Mohammed Shami for his exceptional performances in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Shami finished as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, claiming 24 wickets in just seven matches at an astounding average of 10.70 and a strike rate of 12.20. His remarkable contributions helped India reach the final of the 50-over World Cup.
On January 9, 2024, President Droupadi Murmu presented the Arjuna Award to Mohammed Shami at the National Sports Awards 2023 ceremony.
Complete List of Arjuna Award Winners in Cricket
1961 – Salim Durani
1964 – Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
1965 – Vijay Manjrekar
1966 – Chandu Borde
1967 – Ajit Wadekar
1968 – Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas
1969 – Bishan Singh Bedi
1970 – Dilip Sardesai
1971 – Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan
1972 – Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrasekhar, Eknath Solkar
1975 – Sunil Gavaskar
1976 – Shantha Rangaswamy
1977-78 – Gundappa Viswanath
1979-80 – Kapil Dev
1980-81 – Chetan Chauhan, Syed Kirmani
1981 – Dilip Vengsarkar
1982 – Mohinder Amarnath
1983 – Diana Edulji
1984 – Ravi Shastri
1985 – Shubhangi Kulkarni
1986 – Sandhya Agarwal, Mohammad Azharuddin
1989 – Madan Lal
1993 – Manoj Prabhakar, Kiran More
1994 – Sachin Tendulkar
1995 – Anil Kumble
1996 – Javagal Srinath
1997 – Sourav Ganguly, Ajay Jadeja
1998 – Rahul Dravid, Nayan Mongia
2000 – Venkatesh Prasad
2001 – VVS Laxman
2002 – Virender Sehwag
2003 – Mithali Raj, Harbhajan Singh
2005 – Anju Jain
2006 – Anjum Chopra
2009 – Gautam Gambhir
2010 – Jhulan Goswami
2011 – Zaheer Khan
2012 – Yuvraj Singh
2013 – Virat Kohli
2014 – Ravichandran Ashwin
2015 – Rohit Sharma
2016 – Ajinkya Rahane
2017 – Harmanpreet Kaur, Cheteshwar Pujara
2018 – Smriti Mandhana
2019 – Ravindra Jadeja, Poonam Yadav
2020 – Deepti Sharma, Ishant Sharma
2021 – Shikhar Dhawan
2023 – Mohammed Shami