Virat Kohli's idol applauds his feat on being honoured with the Khel Ratna

The modern-day cricket legend, Virat Kohli was honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for his commendable contributions to the game of cricket. It is the highest sporting honour given by the Indian government to acknowledge and appreciate a sportsperson. Kohli became only the third cricketer ever to be bestowed with the Khel Ratna.

The first to have received this award was Sachin Tendulkar, he got that in 1998 and was followed by former Indian skipper MS Dhoni who was considered the best candidate for the same in 2007. After the event last night, Tendulkar took it to Twitter to congratulate the latest entrant into the list. Along with Virat, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu was also conferred with the same award.

Sachin extremely proud of Virat

The 45-year-old legend congratulated Virat for the achievement. He wished that the dynamic Indian skipper keeps making everyone proud and asked the 29-year-old to keep up the good work. Sachin also shared a picture of the Indian skipper receiving the recognition from President Shri Ramnath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Apart from Sachin, Kohli was flooded with several other congratulatory messages on the social media.

“Congratulations @imVkohli on receiving the #KhelRatna. May you continue making us proud. Keep up the good work!,” the highest run-getter in Tests and ODIs tweeted.

Congratulations @imVkohli on receiving the #KhelRatna. May you continue making us proud. Keep up the good work! pic.twitter.com/0oyhIc6FPh

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 26, 2018

Kohli received the award in the presence of his wife Anushka Sharma, mother Saroj Kohli, and brother Vikas Kohli. All of the three family members present at the event looked to be extremely proud of what the legend has achieved. Alongside Virat, Indian woman cricketer Smriti Mandhana was also present at the ceremony to receive the Arjuna Award.

Kohli is now leading the Indian cricket team across all the formats of the game. He has been highly consistent over the last few years leaving everyone in awe. With already over 18,000 international runs under his belt, he is set to achieve much greater success.

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