New Delhi, September 17: India captain Virat Kohli and world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu were on Monday (September 17) jointly recommended for this year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award -- the country's highest sporting honour.
The 29-year-old Kohli became second-time lucky after failing to get the selection committee's nod in 2016, revealed a source in the awards selection committee.
Kohli currently leads the ICC Test rankings for batsmen and has been in phenomenal form.
If approved by Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Kohli will become the third cricketer to get the Khel Ratna after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar (1997) and the double World Cup-winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2007).
Chanu was recommended for the prestigious award following her gold medal in 48kg category at the World Championships last year.
She also bagged the yellow metal in this year's Commonwealth Games but didn't compete at the Asian Games due to injury.
A source in the committee told PTI that shuttler Kidambi Srikanth's name was also been discussed before settling on above mentioned duo.
FULL AWARDS LIST
Dronacharya Award: Tarak Sinha (cricket), Clarence Lobo (hockey), Vijay Sharma (weightlighting), Jeevan Sharma (judo), CA Kuttappa (boxing), Srinivas Rao (table tennis).
Dhyan Chand Award: Bharat Chetri (hockey), Satyadev (archery), Dadu Chougule (wrestling), Bobby Aloysius (athletics).
Arjuna Award: Neeraj Chopra (Athletics), Jinsen Johnson (Athletics), Hima das (Athletics), N sikki Reddy (Badminton), Satish Kumar (boxer), Smriti Mandhana (Cricket), Manpreet Singh (hockey), Savita (Hockey), Col Ravi Rathore (Polo), Ankur Mittal (Shooting), Rahi sarnabot (Shooting), Shreyasi Singh (Shooting), G Sathiyan (Table Tennis), Manika Batra (Table Tennis), Sumit (Wrestling), Rohan bopanna (Tennis), Pooja kadian (wushu), Shubhankar Sharma (golf), Ankur dham ( Para athletics), Manoj Sarkar
(para badminton)