Mithali not nominated for Khel Ratna

India women’s cricket captain Mithali Raj, who led the team to the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup for the second time, has not been nominated for the Khel Ratna by the BCCI this year. Mithali, who finished as the second highest run-getter in the World Cup recently, has had a stellar career which was capped by becoming the top run-getter in women’s ODIs this year. However, the BCCI failed to foresee a certain world record and has not even pushed her name for the prestigious award. Although the deadline ended on April 30, there have been instances where associations have pushed for names well after the deadline and got them the award. Last year, the sports ministry had allowed the late nomination of medal-winning Olympians PV Sindhu (silver in badminton) and Sakshi Malik (bronze in wrestling). In addition, it also gave the award to Dipa Karmakar who finished fourth at the Rio Olympics and pistol shooter Jitu Rai. It was the first time the Khel Ratna was awarded to four sportspersons.

The BCCI is not pushing Mithali’s case this time. It had nominated Cheteshwar Pujara and Harmanpreet Kaur’s name for the Arjuna Award.

“The BCCI is going through a crisis situation. There is a problem in governance and it is difficult to see it taking initiative and pushing the case of players,” a daily from India quoted a BCCI official without naming him.