Kapil Dev to head Arjuna Award selection committee

Former India cricket captain will head the Arjuna Awards selection committee for choosing this year's outstanding sportspersons of the country; former hockey skipper Ajitpal Singh is likely to be in charge of selecting the Dronacharya awardees

New Delhi: Former India cricket captain Kapil Dev will head the Arjuna Awards selection committee for choosing this year's outstanding sportspersons of the country while former hockey skipper Ajitpal Singh is likely to be in charge of selecting the Dronacharya awardees.


Kapil Dev 

"Yes, Kapil Dev will be heading the Arjuna Awards committee," sports secretary Ajit Sharan told PTI today. While Kapil, who bagged 434 wickets in 131 Tests in his 16-year-long career, got the Arjuna in 1980, former Olympian Ajitpal was conferred the Award in 1970, and awarded it in 1972.

A source in the sports ministry said the government had issued a notification in writing to all persons concerned. The awards will be conferred on National Sports Day which is August 29.

The ministry has already received several nominations from various federations. Each committee will have 15 members, including 12 eminent sportspersons and three officials.

The three officials -- director general of the Sports Authority of India and a joint secretary and deputy secretary from the ministry -- will be on both committees.

For the record, last year's Arjuna and Dronacharya awards selection committee's were headed by four-time world billiards champion Michael Ferreira and mountaineer H P S Ahluwalia respectively.

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