The 28-year-old rifle shooter, who was the first Indian marksman to win a quota place for next year’s London Olympics with a bronze in the World Championships last year, had been disgruntled at being “ignored” for the award last year.
“Gagan Narang has been recommended for the Khel Ratna this year,” a source in the awards’ selection committee told PTI. “The recommended names for the Khel Ratna and Arjuna awardees have been sent to the Sports Ministry and it will be oficially announced after being approved by the ministry,” the source said.
Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has been picked for the Arjuna award. The 32-year-old fast bowler, who is currently in England for the ongoing Test series, has taken 271 wickets in cricket’s longer format at an average of 31.94.
Zaheer has 273 one-day wickets at an average of 28.84. The last time a male cricketer got the Arjuna award was 2009 when Gautam Gambhir was picked for the honour. The other Arjuna awardees this year include Indian football captain and striker Sunil Chettri, rising tennis star Somdev Devvarman and ace badminton player Jwala Gutta.
Somdev had struck a golden double last year by finishing on top in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games singles events. Fly-weight boxer Suranjoy Singh, the Commonwealth Games champion, is also in the list of athletes recommended for Arjuna.
Discus thrower Vikas Gowda, who is set to get the bronze medal in the Asian Games after the original medallist failed a dope test, and long-distance runner Preeja Sreedharan, an Asian Games gold-medallist, were the track and field athletes who made the cut.
Among shooters, India’s first woman world champion Tejaswini Sawant, who clinched the top honours in the 50M rifle prone event, has been recommended for the Arjuna award.
Ashish Kumar, the first Indian gymnast to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games, also made the list. Ashish had clinched a silver in the men’s vault and bronze in the men’s floor events of the Delhi Games. Wushu player Sandhya Rani is set to feted for her Asian Games silver with the Arjuna award.
Archer Rahul Banerjee, who clinched the men’s recurve gold in the Commonwealth Games last year, has also made the cut in the recommended list. Athletics coach Kuntal Roy is among the five names recommended for the Dronacharya award.
The recommended names:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: Gagan Narang (Shooting). Arjuna Awards: Zaheer Khan (Cricket, Rahul Banerjee (Archery), Preeja Sreedharan (Athletics), Jwala Gutta (Badminton), Suranjoy Singh (Boxing), Sunil Chhetri (Football), Rajpal Singh (Hockey), Rakesh Kumar (Kabaddi), Tejaswini Sawant (Shooting), Virdhawal Khade (Swimming), Ashish Kumar (Gymnastics), Somdev Devvarman (Tennis), Ravinder Singh (Wrestling), Ravi Kumar (Weightlifting), Vikas Gowda (Athletics), Sandhya Rani (Wushu), Prasanta Karmakar (Swimming), Sanjay Kumar (Volleyball), Tejaswini (Kabaddi).