India batsman Rohit Sharma, who on Saturday was nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, expressed his gratitude for being shortlisted for the honour by the BCCI.
“I am extremely honoured and humbled to be nominated by the BCCI for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award which is the highest sporting honour in India. I am grateful to BCCI, to all my teammates, support staff, fans of the game and my family for sticking by me. Thank You very much,” Rohit said in a video posted by the BCCI on Sunday.
The period of consideration is between January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019. In this while, Rohit has had a stellar run, becoming the first T20I cricketer to score four centuries and hold the record for the most 150-plus scores in ODIs – 8. Besides, since the beginning of 2017, Rohit has the most number of ODI centuries – 18. With 28 hundreds, Rohit is ranked fourth in the all-time leading ODI centurions.
Named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2019, Rohit became the first player in history to score five ODI centuries in a single edition of the World Cup. He surpassed MS Dhoni to hit the maximum number of sixes in international matches on Indian soil. Later in the year, being assigned the responsibility of opening the batting in Tests, Rohit became the only player to have twin centuries in his maiden appearance as a Test opener.
