BCCI congratulates Virat, Smriti for national awards

New Delhi : The BCCI on Tuesday congratulated skipper Virat Kohli and Smriti Mandhana on being honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna award respectively.

Virat was conferred the highest sporting honour in the country by President Ram Nath Kovind at the National Sports Awards ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Smriti, the vice-captain of the women's T20I team, who was honoured with the Arjuna award, was absent from the ceremony as she is currently on national duty in Sri Lanka.

While Virat has successfully led India in different formats topping the batting charts, Smriti has been scoring heavily at the top of the order with much flair.

Congratulating the duo, BCCI acting President C.K. Khanna said: "National Sports Awards are given to recognise and reward excellence in sports. Both Virat and Smriti have been excellent and it is a proud moment for the BCCI to see them get these awards."

"Virat is the No. 1 batsman in Tests as well as ODIs and an exceptional leader. Smriti's batting skills have been appreciated by one and all and she has a knack of getting big scores outside India," he added.