Gavaskar to head jury for Sahara Sports Award

Cricket great Sunil Gavaskar will head the 13-member jury which will pick the winners of this year’s Sahara India Sports Award.

Apart from Gavaskar, the jury will have another former cricket captain Dilip Vengsarkar, badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, billiards great Michael Ferreira, hockey star Dhanraj Pillay, retired athlete Ashwini Nachappa, long jumper Anju Bobby George, Mehrwan Daruwalla (squash), Praveen Thipsay (chess), Kamlesh Mehta (table tennis), Nandan Bal (tennis), Vikramjit Singh (golf) and IM Vijayan (football).

“In India, sports still takes a back seat and does not get the needed recognition and applause. We felt that we need to encourage the sportspersons and give an impetus to their talent by appreciating and felicitating it,” Chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, Subrata Roy said.

Gavaskar said, “Sahara Indian Sports Award is a forum that will get multidisciplinary sportspersons under one roof.”

Bureau Report