Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award nominations: FMSCI list Musa Sherif, NRAI name Ankur Mittal and Anjum Moudgul

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award nominations to pour in from various federations and adding to the list are the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) and National Rifles Association of India (NRAI). While FMSCI has nominated celebrated Indian motorsport personality Musa Sherif, the NRAI have recommended Ankur Mittal and Anjum Moudgil.

Sherif is India's most successful co-driver currently, having won seven national titles with prolific driver Gaurav Gill, who so far, remains the only motorsport athlete to have been conferred with Arjuna Award.

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Musa, who has been into rallying for the last 30 years has represented India globally and won championships across the world including three back-to-back titles in UAE, APRC 2 Asia Cup, Malaysian 4X4 amongst others.

Along with Gaurav, he has entered into 65 rallies with 38 overall wins. Apart from the seven national titles, he won the gruelling Dakshin Dare on three occasions.

"It is indeed a great honour for me and I would like to thank FMSCI for this recognition. It has been a long journey for me and over the years I partnered with 49 drivers and I thank each and every one of them for their support," Musa said in a release. "I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my sponsors JK Tyre, Mahindra Adventure, Gaurav Gill for being there by my side and helping me achieve my dreams," he further added.

-2 Shooters also nominated-

DoubleTrap champion Mittal and Olympic-bound rifle shooted Moudgil. Mittal won his double trap world title in 2018 and got the Arjuna award the same year. Moudgil is a world championship silver-medallist, also from the 2018 edition and she was awarded the Arjuna in 2019.

"The two had also been recommended in the same category last year," the NRAI said in a statement.

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For the Arjuna awards, the NRAI has recommended the Olympic-bound duo of Elavenil Valarivan and Abhishek Verma.

There were no recommendations in the Dronacharya awards category this year from the NRAI.

The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29 to mark the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand as the National Sports Day.

Besides recommendations from the national federations, athletes can also nominate themselves through online applications. The last date for submission is July 5.

(With ANI, PTI inputs)

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