Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma has been conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the highest sporting honour in the country. The award ceremony will be held in virtual mode from Rashtrapati Bhavan on 29th August, 2020 which is also celebrated as National Sports Day.

The Indian Sports Ministry announced the list of winners on Friday as Rohit became the fourth cricketer to be bestowed with the prestigious award after Sachin Tendulkar (1997-98), MS Dhoni (2007) and Virat Kohli (2018). Previously, he has also been a recipient of the esteemed Arjuna Award back in 2015.

Rohit expressed his happiness and conveyed warm regards to the fans for all their support.

"Thank you very much for all your well wishes and support throughout the year. It has been a wonderful ride. To receive such a sporting honour in India is a great privilege and I'm very happy about it. I owe this to you all. Without your support, this wouldn't have been possible. Keep supporting and yes, I promise to bring many more laurels to the country. Since we're social distancing, a virtual hug from me to you guys"

Thank you for all your wishes and lots of love. pic.twitter.com/vbKaTbfwd7

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) August 22, 2020

The Indian opener had a splendid 2019, especially the World Cup where he ended up as the highest run-scorer with a tally of 648 runs. He also registered five centuries in the tournament which is a World Cup record. The 33-year-old was also named as the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for his heroics with the bat.

Hitman even aced his debut series as a Test opener against the Proteas where he scored 529 runs which included two centuries and a maiden double ton in the traditional format. Under his captaincy last year, Mumbai Indians also went on to win the IPL for the fourth time.

A record-breaking 5️⃣ centuries at the @cricketworldcup & a smashing debut as a Test opener 👌

Highest sporting honour of India - Rohit Sharma is now a #RajivGandhiKhelRatna awardee 🏅#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/2owIEQSCaP

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) August 21, 2020

Previous recipients of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

1991-1992: Viswanathan Anand (Chess)

1992-1993: Geet Sethi (Billiards)

1993-1994: Homi Motivala (Yachting), Pushpendra Kumar Garg (Yachting)

1994-1995: Karnam Malleswari (Weightlifting)

1995-1996: Nameirakpam Kunjarani (Weightlifting)

1996-1997: Leander Paes (Tennis)

1997-1998: Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket)

1998-1999: Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (Athletics)

1999-2000: Dhanraj Pillay (Hockey)

2000-2001: Pullela Gopichand (Badminton)

2001: Abhinav Bindra (Shooting)

2002: K.M. Beenamol (Athletics), Anjali Bhagwat (Shooting)

2003: Anju Bobby George (Athletics)

2004: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Shooting)

2005: Pankaj Advani (Billiards, Snooker)

2006: Manavjit Singh Sandhu (Shooting)

2007: MS Dhoni (Cricket)

2009: Mary Kom (Boxing), Vijender Singh (Boxing), Sushil Kumar (Wrestling)

2010: Saina Nehwal (Badminton)

2011: Gagan Narang (Shooting)

2012: Vijay Kumar (Shooting), Yogeshwar Dutt (Wrestling)

2013: Ronjan Sodhi (Shooting)

2015: Sania Mirza (Tennis)

2016: P.V. Sindhu (Badminton), Dipa Karmakar (Gymnastics), Jitu Rai (Shooting), Sakshi Malik

(Wrestling)

2017: Devendra Jhajharia (Paralympic Athletics), Sardara Singh (Hockey)

2018: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting), Virat Kohli (Cricket)

2019: Deepa Malik (Paralympic), Bajrang Punia (Freestyle Wrestling)

2020: Rohit Sharma (Cricket), Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling), Mariyappan Thangavelu (Paralympic Athletics), Manika Batra (Table Tennis), Rani Rampal (Hockey)