Government Rejected Padma Award For Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mar 29, 2017 at 6:41 PM
The central government reportedly rejected proposals to confer the prestigious Padma award to former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
According to a report in The Indian Express, the 35-year old Jharkhand star was one of 18,768 nominees, whose names were turned down by the government. Dhoni, who led the team to two World Cups, is India’s most successful skipper across all three formats.
Dhoni led India in 60 Tests, winning a record 27 of them. He had also led India to the Champions Trophy glory in England in 2013. The right-handed batsman stepped down as limited-overs skipper earlier this year, but continues to be part of the limited-overs team. He had won the Padma Shri award in 2009.
Some other prominent personalities whose names were rejected are controversial spiritual leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, Biju Janata Dal MP Baijayant Panda, music composer Anu Malik and also journalist Arnab Goswami.
The long list of the nominees was made public by the Home Ministry after 89 personalities were selected for the prestigious awards on the eve of Republic Day. However, the home ministry didn’t cite reasons for rejecting the names.
Dhoni’s teammate and current India skipper Virat Kohli received the coveted Padma Shri Award this year and joined Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh and other cricketers in the prestigious list.