Deepti Sharma says winning Arjuna Award has always been a dream; thanks BCCI & Indian govt

Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma has been conferred upon with the prestigious Arjuna Award for her amazing performance with both bat and ball and in the past few years for the country. The 23-year-old is one of the 27 athletes who will be getting the award on August 29, and ahead of the special day the ICC 4th-ranked all-rounder issued a video statement thanking the BCCI and the government of India for selecting her name. In the video shared by the BCCI on August 24, Deepti says that it's an honour for her to be on the Arjuna Award winners' list this year as it has always been a dream of hers to win the prize. 

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Deepti further added that she had worked extremely hard for the award, which has in the past been conferred upon some of the greats of the Indian cricket fraternity. Deepti went on to say that she and her family is very proud of her winning the prize. "I am very happy, it is a proud moment for me and my family that I will be conferred upon with Arjuna Award. I have worked very hard from the beginning of my career to get this award which features big names from Indian cricket such as Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Anjum Chopra, Smriti Mandana. I thank BCCI and the government of India for selecting my name," Deepti says in the video. Deepti was part of the Indian women's national team that reached the finals of this year's T20 World Cup in Australia, which India lost to the host by 85 runs. 

Read: Did A Lot Of Hard Work For Last 13 Years: Ishant Sharma On Being Honored With Arjuna Award

Read: 'Arjuna Award Would Motivate Me To Breach Olympic Qualification Mark': Dutee Chand

Other awardees

Indian men's cricket team pacer Ishant Sharma has also been selected for this year's Arjuna Award. Sprinter Dutee Chand, footballer Sandesh Jhingan, archer Atanu Das, shuttler Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty, basketball player Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, golfer Aditi Ashok, boxer Lovlina Bograhain, and shooter Manu Bhaker are some of the other athletes who will honoured with the bronze statue of 'Arjuna with a bow' and cash prize of Rs. 5,00,000 by the President of India on August 29 virtually due to COVID-19 pandemic. 

Read: Ravi Shastri Lauds Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma; Pulled Up For Ignoring Deepti Sharma

(Image Credit: BCCI/Twitter)