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Long jumper M Sreeshankar, who won the Arjuna Award, and kabaddi coach Edachery Bhaskaran, who was chosen for the Dronacharay Award, were the Keralites to gain recognition.
Cricketer Mohammed Shami has also been nominated for the Arjuna.
Balaram belonged to the golden generation of Indian football in the 1950s and 60s where he paired with legends such as Chuni Goswami and P K Banerjee, and they came to be known as 'holy trinity'.
While Sharath is the lone Khel Ratna award recipient, 25 sportspersons, including shuttlers Lakshya Sen, H S Prannoy, woman boxer Nikhat Zareen, track and field athletes Eldhose Paul and Avinash Sable, were conferred with the Arjuna Award.
25 sportspersons will receive the Arjuna Award from the President on November 30.
The Arjuna Award winner shared the excitement of meeting his 'favourite player' with a social media post.
The star attraction of the evening was Neeraj Chopra, who received his Khel Ratna award amid thunderous applause from the select dignitaries present on the specially organised function.
The other prominent Khel Ratna winners this year include Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and Olympic silver-medallist wrestler Ravi Dahiya and hockey team captain Manpreet Singh.
This is the second consecutive year Prakash, who is set to compete in his second Olympics in Tokyo, has been recommended for the Arjuna.
For Arjuna Award, the Board will send the names of senior batsman Shikhar Dhawan, who was ignored last year, K L Rahul and pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
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