Team Herald
PANJIM: Indian cricketer Shikha Pandey was awarded the prestigious Dilip Sardesai Sports Excellence Award for the year 2017-18 on National Sports Day in Panjim on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old, who is also the Flight Lt at the Indian Air Force, was felicitated by Prof Nandini Sardesai, wife of late Dilip Sardesai, Sports Minister Babu Azgaonkar and Water Resources Minister Vinod Palyekar, in the presence of SAG executive director V M Prabhu Desai and Brahmanand Shankwalkar.
The award comprised of a bronze plaque and a cash award of Rs 2 lakh as a tribute to her immense contribution in the field of cricket.
The award, which is given to a sportsperson who has the highest achievement at any international event, was instituted in the year 2008 and since then nine highest achievers amongst outstanding sportspersons have been presented with the said award.
Speaking on the occasion Shikha advised the youngsters to work hard and chase their dreams.
In her advice to the youngsters she said, “I also had dreams, out of which two are fulfilled. From childhood my dream was to represent my country and do something wherein the whole nation would be proud of me. Now it’s your turn to chase your dreams through hard work and dedication”.
“Now my only dream left it to be in the winning team of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018, to be held in the West Indies from November 9”, she said.
After Dilip Sardesai, she is the first player from Goa to play for any Indian national team and also the first Goa Cricket Association affiliated cricketer to play international level cricket for India.
The India all-rounder, who was outstanding with the ball at last year’s ICC Women’s World Cup, started her domestic cricket career in Goa at the age of 15 in 2004 and lived up to the expectations.
In 2014, Shikha climbed the ladder all the way up to India probables and got the big break for India tour of Bangladesh (friendly) and later for 2014 ICC Women’s World Twenty20.
After the T20 World Cup, she played one-off Test match and two ODI matches against England. She was instrumental in India’s win against South Africa on November 26, 2014 by taking 3 wickets and scoring 59 runs.
Shikha was part of the Indian team to reach the final of the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup where the team lost to England by nine runs.
