Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli enjoys massive popularity across the nation for his astounding achievements on the cricket pitch. He is arguably one of the best batsmen ever to have played the game and has been remarkable as a captain for India. As he celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday, November 5, the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting Bharat Ratna – the country’s highest civilian honour for the captain.

In the recent past, Kohli has been an exceptional performer for the country across formats. He has been breaking records and piling on runs at an incredibly consistent rate to assert his dominance as one of the finest batsmen of all time. He was in red-hot form in the recently-concluded ODI series against West Indies and led his side to a 3-1 triumph over the visitors in the five-match series. Kohli almost single-handedly destructed the Windies bowling attack throughout the series to finish as the highest run-getter of the series amassing a staggering 453 runs at an average of 151.

After Kohli became the quickest to complete the milestone of 10,000 ODI runs for India, leaving behind the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, AIGF decided to write to PM Modi to recognize Kohli’s contributions in enhancing India’s stature and image in the global sporting arena by bestowing the honour of Bharat Ratna.

“Cricket is one of the most loved sports in the country and Virat Kohli has captivated the hearts & minds of billions with his scintillating performances over the past years. AIGF strongly believes that it is only befitting that his efforts in enhancing India’s stature & image in the global sporting arena are adequately recognized by bestowing the honour of Bharat Ratna,” the letter read.

“Honouring Kohli with India’s highest civilian award will mean awarding talent, merit and hard work,” it added. The only cricketer ever to have been honoured with the Bharat Ratna is Sachin, who remains the all-time highest run-getter in the history of cricket and the only batsman to have scored 100 centuries across formats.