New Delhi: Former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and multiple world champion cueist Pankaj Advani were on Thursday conferred with the country’s third-highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan.
Apart from the duo, 2017 World Weightlifting Champion in the 48kg category, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and former Asian Games gold medallist tennis player Somdev Devvarman were conferred with the Padma Shri award.
Ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth also won the Padma Shri along side India’s first Paralympic gold medalist, Murlikant Petkar.
Dhoni has been the recipient of many awards, including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 (the first player to win the award twice), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2007 and the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour in 2009.
Under Dhoni’s captaincy India climbed to No 1 in the ICC Test Rankings in December 2009.
Like Dhoni, Advani also has a distinguished career, having won gold twice in Asian Games in 2006 Doha and 2010 Guangzhou. He is also a multiple world-champion.