On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the nation into surprise through the unanticipated announcement of rechristening India's highest sporting honour - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. He made the announcement through Twitter and claimed that he had received a pile of requests from citizens across the country to rename the award. 

By putting his predecessor to history, Modi announced that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award will be renamed after India's hockey legend Dhyan Chand as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. Taking to Twitter on Friday concerning the renaming drive, the Prime Minister said, "I have been getting many requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand. I thank them for their views." 

"Respecting their sentiment, the Khel Ratna Award will hereby be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award! Jai Hind!", Modi added by posting an image of him paying floral tribute to Dhyan Chand's statue. Displaying that he has decided to rename the award as per the requests of the citizens and to honour the historical triumph and outstanding performances of both men's and women's hockey teams in the Tokyo Olympics. 

The Prime Minister said that the exceptional performance of the men's and women's hockey teams in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics has captured the imagination of the entire nation. He cited that there is a renewed interest towards the sport that is rising across the length and breadth of India and added that such emergence is a very positive sign for the coming times. Following his announcement, the Union Ministers had shown their allegiance to his decision with staunch backing. 

Union Sports Minister took to Twitter and wrote, "Major Dhyan Chand is India’s most legendary & loved sporting icons; it is only befitting that India’s Highest Sporting Honour be named after him. His life and achievements have inspired generations of sportspersons who have achieved glory for India." There is seemingly no room for criticizing Modi's decision of renaming a sporting award after a sporting legend. Even most of the former and current athletes had welcomed the decision. 

Speaking to a news agency over renaming the award after the Hockey wizard, Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh said that the announcement of naming the award after Dhyan Chand is a huge moment for hockey and India. Several celebrities had also sounded in favour of Modi's decision, which has come at a high time when the nation is shocked to learn about the incident in Uttarakhand where the men from the upper caste celebrated the defeat of Women's hockey in the Olympics by bursting crackers in front of the residence of Indian women hockey player Vandana Katariya and slurred that the Indian women's team has lost because the team has more Dalits. 

The incident had dismayed the entire country and there was no word of condemnation from the Prime Minister concerning this sickening incident, that apparently has degraded our national game. Thanks for renaming the award. While Modi's drive of changing the name of the award has won the allegiance from his ministers and athletes, it also has stirred a question why can't the sporting awards and venues be named after the sporting icons instead of the politicians, who have a less contribution towards sports. 

Several people on social media had praised the Prime Minister for renaming the Khel Ratna Award and displayed that they will again praise him if he decides to change the name of Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium after a sporting legend. So, here are some of the questions that users had raised - how about renaming the World's largest cricket stadium, the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, after a cricketing legend of India? Will the Prime Minister be changing the name of Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in Delhi after the athletes? 

Will PM Modi lead the guard by changing the name of Narendra Modi stadium? Adding more pressure on Modi, former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela has urged the Prime Minister to rename Narendra Modi stadium after Sardar Vallabhai Patel. Taking to Twitter, Vaghela wrote, "As @narendramodi Govt renamed Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, I would like to request them to rename Narendra Modi Stadium to Sardar Patel Stadium again." Will Modi hear these questions and listen to a veteran leader? 

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award was constituted in 1990-91 and the first recipient of the award was chess champion, Vishwanathan Anand. The iconic accolade carries prize money of Rs 25 lakh and the legendary sports stars including Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Anju Bobby George, Abhinav Bindra, Leander Peas, Mary Kom, and PV Sindhu were conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Indian hockey legend Dhyan Chand, who was popularly known as 'The Wizard', was an icon and doyen of Indian Hockey. 

Besides winning three Olympic gold medals in 1928 (Amsterdam), 1932 (Los Angeles), and 1936 (Berlin), Chand was known for his playing tactics and capabilities and he was a pivotal force behind the rise of our national game at the global stage and it also must be noted that the Indian men's hockey team has won eight Olympic gold medals. Dhyan Chand was born in Allahabad (now renamed as Prayagraj) in 1905 and played international hockey from 1926 to 1949. His birthday, 29 August, is celebrated as National Sports Day. 

As @narendramodi Govt renamed Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, I would like to request them to rename Narendra Modi Stadium to Sardar Patel Stadium again. pic.twitter.com/w1ccKacK4b

— Shankersinh Vaghela (@ShankersinhBapu) August 6, 2021