M.S. Dhoni has been recommended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the Padma Bhushan, the country's third highest civilian honour.
The BCCI’s acting-secretary, Amitabh Chaudhary told The Hindu: "Dhoni was conferred the Padma Shri award in 2009 and he became eligible for the Padma Bhushan a few years ago. Presently there is no other cricketer more deserving than him (Dhoni). We started the formal process 10 days ago.’’
Apart from the Padma Shri, Dhoni has received the Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. While India’s highest decorated cricketer is Sachin Tendulkar (Bharat Ratna, 2014), Dhoni is likely to join a group of illustrious cricketers who have been awarded the Padma Bhushan - Col. C.K. Nayudu, Vinoo Mankad, Prof. D.B. Deodhar, Lala Amarnath, Chandu Borde, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid among others.
The Board nominated Dhoni for the Padma Bhushan award online after it came to know that the process was closing on September 15.
The decision to nominate the former Indian captain was made after those who took the initiative received approval from the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the BCCI office-bearers.
If Dhoni is conferred with Padma Bhushan, he will become the 11th Indian cricketer to get the third highest civilian honour.
(With inputs from PTI)
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