New Delhi: When it came to representing the gentleman's game at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, it was left to a lady.
Anju Jain was the only cricketer to hear the applause at this year's Arjuna Awards. One man who could easily have joined her at the Rashtrapati Bhawan was Indian Captain Rahul Dravid.
Dravid, an Arjuna Awardee in 1998, was a candidate for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, and the 33-year-old this time has every right to feel annoyed about being left out of the coveted list.
In 2005, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's silver medal at the Athens Olympics pushed him to the background. And this year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) casual approach robbed him of that chance.
Raj Singh Dungarpur, the President of the BCCI, says: "If his name was there he would have won it, but his name was not there. As far as Yuvraj (Singh) and Irfan (Pathan) are concerned, we thought they still have got a way to go, and they can wait."
BCCI did nominate Dravid but sent his name too late, much after the May 31 deadline, in fact on July 17. The BCCI said they were "sorry" that Dravid had missed the bus yet again, but they didn't think they could be blamed for it.
Niranjan Shah, the Board secretary, says: "Our captain was not present, he was in the West Indies and his signature was required. And I don’t think this is the reason for which the selection committee for the nomination of the awards has rejected the name."
Those familiar with the procedures say it isn't necessary to have the nominee's signature for the initial recommendation.
The BCCI could have sent the form to Dravid in the Caribbean and submitted it before the Sports Ministry well in time.
"I’m not surprised because after all the game of cricket is so huge and the players are so well known to everyone, so maybe the selection committee for both the awards must have decided to encourage other games. Maybe this is the reason, that other games don’t get as much limelight as cricket does," Shah said.
Since 1961 when the Arjuna Awards were started, 34 men and six women cricketers have got the honour.
But just Sachin Tendulkar won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1997-98, four years after winning the Arjuna in 1994.
Rahul Dravid's name would certainly have made the panel's job a lot more difficult but maybe next year the BCCI will get the paperwork sorted in time.
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