Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award to be renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, announces PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi garlanding the statue of Major Dhyan Chand. Image Courtesy: Twitter @narendramodi

Xtra Time Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award will be renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The Prime Minister announced the decision in a tweet. He tweeted, “I have been getting many requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand. I thank them for their views. Respecting their sentiment, the Khel Ratna Award will hereby be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award! Jai Hind!”

The Khel Ratna Award is the highest sporting honour in India. Until now, it has been named after Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of the country. There have been calls by citizens for a significant period of time to name the award after a sporting legend instead of a politician. In another tweet, PM Narendra Modi explained why his Government decided to change the name of the award. The Prime Minister tweeted, “Major Dhyan Chand was among India’s foremost sportspersons who brought honour and pride for India. It is fitting that our nation’s highest sporting honour will be named after him.”

Major Dhyan Chand is one of the greatest hockey players in the history of the game. He led India to three consecutive Gold Medals in Hockey in 1928, 1932 and 1936. He scored an astonishing 570 goals in 185 matches, averaging 3.08 goals per match.  For his astounding hockey feats, he is fondly remembered as The Wizard or The Magician.