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[caption id="attachment_49263" align="alignnone" width="580"] Virat Kohli has been recommended for the Khel Ratna award by BCCI.
File Pic[/caption] Xtra Time Web Desk: Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli’s name has been recommended for the Khel Ratna award by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) while former India captain Rahul Dravid’s name has been recommended for the Dronacharya award. Little master Sunil Gavaskar’s name was proposed for the Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports. Kohli’s name has been proposed for the country’s highest sporting honour. It will be another feather in the cap for Kohli, who has already been awarded the Padma Shri in 2017 and Arjuna in 2013. The 29 year old batsman has been in prolific form with the bat in the last one year and is regarded as one of the best batsman in modern cricket. If Kohli clinches the award, he would become the third Indian cricketer to get the Khel Ratna after legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and  MS Dhoni. Tendulkar received the award in 1997 while Dhoni bagged the same in 2007. Former India captain Rahul Dravid has successfully coached the India U’19 team to World Cup title. It is to be noted that the Board had stopped sending nominations for Dronacharya awards due to multiple coaches’ at times claiming credit for a player’s success. Earlier, BCCI had recommended the names of Smriti Mandhana and Shikhar Dhawan, openers in the Indian women’s and men’s national teams, respectively, for the Arjuna award. The 21-year-old Mandhana had played a key role in India reaching the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup in England last year. Her prolific run this year has seen her grab a career-high fourth position in the ICC women’s rankings. The 32-year-old Dhawan is presently playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Sunrisers Hyderabad and has been a regular across all three formats for India. Ever since a debut Test hundred against Australia in 2013, Dhawan has been a crucial cog in the Indian batting line-up.