No Khel Ratna for 2025: India’s Top Sporting Honour Remains Unclaimed, 17 Athletes Receive Arjuna Awards
NEW DELHI, India – In a surprising turn of events, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honour, will not be bestowed upon any athlete for the year 2025. This marks only the third instance since the award’s inception in 1991-92 that no sportsperson has been recommended, following similar omissions in 2008 and 2014.
The recommendations, meticulously reviewed by the National Sports Awards selection committee, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra, were submitted to Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya for final approval. The Ministry of Sports officially announced the National Sports Awards 2025 on Tuesday, confirming the absence of a Khel Ratna recipient.
Prior to the announcement, discussions within the committee, held in New Delhi on December 12, 2025, had explored the possibility of recognizing compound archer Jyothi Surekha Vennam and India’s women’s World Cup-winning cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana for the prestigious award. However, none of these prominent names ultimately made it into the final list of recommendations.
This decision to forgo a Khel Ratna recipient has sparked considerable debate, particularly concerning the two leading Indian women cricketers. A key factor in their exclusion was the absence of a specific, points-based system to objectively assess cricket performances for the award. In such scenarios, the committee typically relies on nominations from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Notably, no nominations were put forward for either Kaur or Mandhana. The last cricketer to receive the Khel Ratna was Mohammed Shami, in 2023.
The Khel Ratna, known as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna until August 2021, is a highly coveted accolade that includes a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, a medallion, and a citation.
While the nation’s top sporting honour remained unclaimed, 17 deserving sportspersons were named for the Arjuna Award, recognizing their outstanding performance in sports and games. This year’s Arjuna Awardees represent a diverse range of disciplines:
- Athletics: Tejaswin Shankar, Muhammed Ajmal V, and Priyanka Goswami
- Badminton: Treesa Jolly and Pullela Gayatri Gopichand
- Boxing: Narender
- Chess: Vidit Santosh Gujarathi and Divya Jitendra Deshmukh
- Deaf Shooting: Dhanush Srikanth
- Hockey: Lalremsiami and Rajkumar Pal
- Kabaddi: Surjeet and Pooja
- Para-shooting: Rudransh Khandelwal
- Para-athlete: Ekta Bhyan
- Rowing: Arvind Singh
- Shooting: Akhil Sheoran
Among the notable recipients, Divya Jitendra Deshmukh’s selection follows her historic triumph at the FIDE Women’s World Cup, where she became the first Indian woman to clinch the title. Tejaswin Shankar is being recognized for his exceptional performances in athletics, including a silver medal at the 2023 Asian Games.
In addition to the aforementioned awards, the government also conferred one Arjuna Award in the lifetime category to veteran footballer I Arumainayagam.
The prestigious Dronacharya Awards, honouring outstanding coaches, saw recipients in both regular and lifetime categories. The regular category accolades were awarded to athletics coach Parveer Singh, boxing coach Chhote Lal Yadav, and shooting coach Neha Nandkumar Chavan. The lifetime category honours were presented to boxing coach Dharmendra Singh Yadav and wrestling coach Virender Kumar.
Furthermore, the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, dedicated to sports promotion and development, was awarded to the Army Paralympic Node, Pune.
These annual awards serve as a testament to India’s commitment to recognizing sporting excellence, celebrating the invaluable contributions of coaches, and fostering the overall development and promotion of sports across the nation. The selection process involved an open online portal for applications, which were then diligently assessed by a distinguished committee comprising eminent sportspersons, seasoned sports journalists, and experienced sports administrators.
