Indian team captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi named among 27 recipients for the Arjuna Award

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Vishesh Bhriguvanshi

Current Indian basketball team captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi was named among 27 recipients for the Arjuna Award.

The Arjuna Award is an honour bestowed upon a civilian for outstanding achievement in the field of sports. As part of the honour, the recipient receives a cash prize, a bronze statue of Arjuna, and a scroll. 

The news was made official when the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports released the full list of winners for the National Sports Awards 2020 on Friday (Aug. 21) evening. 

According to the press release, the awardees will receive their awards from the Hon’ble President of India at a specially organized function through virtual mode from Rashtrapati Bhawan on 29th August 2020.

As per the Basketball Federation of India, Bhriguvanshi is the 20th basketball player to receive the award in its history and the first since Prashanti Singh in 2017. 

Career History

Even before he made his senior team debut in 2009 at the age of, the Varanasi-native made his mark at the Basketball Without Borders Asia camp in 2008. Just 16 years old, he was named MVP of the camp that was held in New Delhi. 

In arguably India's greatest win ever, when they defeated China 65-58 in a group fixture at the FIBA Asia Cup 2014, Bhriguvanshi was the captain and contributed 10 points.

After dominating India's domestic circuit for years, as one of the most decorated male basketball athletes in the country having won multiple Federation Cup medals and tournament MVP awards, he signed with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia's National Basketball League. 

Although he didn't feature in any of their games, he was the first Indian ever to be signed by an NBL franchise.

Most recently he captained the Indian team in a couple of tournaments - the South Asian Games where Indian clinched the gold medal and the first leg of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers where India won one game and lost one.

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