MS Dhoni, Pankaj Advani conferred with Padma Bhushan; Srikanth, Somdev get Padma Shri

MS Dhoni, Pankaj Advani conferred with Padma Bhushan Award

New Delhi, Jan 25: Former Indian Cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been conferred with the prestigious Padma Bhushan award on Thursday (January 25).

Along with MS Dhoni veteran snooker and billiards player, Pankaj Advani has also been chosen for the award.

Ahead of Republic Day, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released names of some eminent personalities who will receive the 2018 Padma Awards on January 26.

The official announcement was made by MHA on the eve of Republic Day.

Dhoni has been India's most successful captain across all formats and Indian cricket team won all three ICC tournaments i.e. ICC World T20 2007, ICC World Cup 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013. The Ranchi cricketer also led the Indian side for the first time at the top of ICC Test rankings.

The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman relinquished his captaincy, last year, to hand over team's reigns to Virat Kohli but he's still playing for India in the limited-overs' format.

Dhoni was conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2007 and Padma Shri in 2009. The Padma Bhushan is another feather in the illustrious cap of the legendary cricketer.

Meanwhile, Pankaj Advani has also been chosen for country's third-highest civilian honour.

He is also the first Indian to win the 6-red snooker world title. Advani has bagged a total of 18 world titles. Recently, he won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Doha, beating Iran's Amir Sarkhosh in the final.

"I'm honoured and humbled to be named for the Padma Bhushan award. This is motivation for me to continue my pursuit for excellence at the world level in billiards and snooker," Advani was quoted as saying by ANI.

Besides 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.

Getting Padma Shri Is A Great Honour - Somedev Devvarman

Besides, ace men's singles shuttler Kidambi Srikanth also won the Padma Shri alongside India's first Paralympic gold medalist, Murlikant Petkar.

Petkar won an individual gold medal at the 1972 Summer Paralympics, in Heidelberg, Germany. He set a world record in the 50 m freestyle swimming event, at 37.33 seconds.

In the same games, he participated in javelin, precision javelin throw and slalom. He was a finalist in all three events.