Mohammed Shami has been awarded the Arjuna Award at Rashtrapati Bhawan by the Indian President, Droupadi Murmu, today.
The accolade was presented to the athletes in recognition of their outstanding performances in 2023. In The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Mohammed Shami emerged as the leading wicket-taker.
“It’s the biggest achievement of my life I can’t express my feelings. I love my sport and I always try to do my best whatever I am doing. The kind of support my family gave to me to pursue my dream is just amazing. I don’t have words to explain how I started my journey from Amroha to Indian cricket. Passion is always there and I always try to play as much as I can and do well for the country.”
In a conversation with ANI, the cricketer said that it’s like a dream come true for him to receive this award.
“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. It is like a dream for me to get this award because my whole life I have seen many people receiving this award.”
Here’s how the internet reacted to his win:
The other athletes who recieved the award include Ajay Reddy (Blind Cricket) Ojas Pravin Deotale (Archery), Aditi Gopichand Swami (Archery), Sheetal Devi (Para Archery), Parul Chaudhary and Murali Sreeshankar (Athletics), Mohd Hussamuddin (Boxing), R Vaishali (Chess), Divyakriti Singh and Anush Agarwalla (Equestrian), Diksha Dagar (Golf), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (Hockey), Sushila Chanu (Hockey), Pinky (Lawn Ball), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (Shooting), Antim Panghal (Wrestling) and Ayhika Mukherjee (Table Tennis).
Arjuna Awards For Outstanding Performance In Sports & Games is the second-highest athletic honor are celebrates the sportspersons for their good performance in the field of sports over a period of four years at the international level.