Tuesday, August 05, 2008: New Delhi, August 4: India one-day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni became only the second cricketer to be awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award after Sachin Tendulkar in 1997-98.

Dhoni led the Indian team to the inaugural Twenty20 world championship title in Johannesburg last year, before winning the tri-nation tournament in Australia.

The other contenders for the award this year were paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal and boxer MC Mary Kom. In giving Dhoni the award, the selection committee — headed by Milkha Singh — went against recent convention, which has avoided handing out the award to members in a team sport, as well as top professional sports such as tennis and golf.

The Indian cricket board has repeatedly complained about the fact that cricketers were ignored for the award. Rahul Dravid had missed out in 2007.

OTHER WINNERS

Dronacharya awards: Jagminder Singh (wrestling), Sanjeev Kumar (Archery), Jagdish Singh (Boxing), Sridhar Rao (volleyball).

Arjuna awards: Chitra K Soman (athletics), Anup Sridhar (badminton), V Johnson (boxing), D Harika (chess), Arjun Atwal (golf), Prabhjot Singh (hockey), Bajranj (rowing), Tomba Devi (judo), Avneet Kaur (shooting), Alka Tomar (wrestling)