Sports stars, other than MS Dhoni, who have held positions in Indian armed forces

Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was conferred the honourary rank of Lieutenant Colonel for his contribution to cricket by the former President of India Pratibha Patil in 2011. On Monday, the 36-year old donned his army uniform while accepting the Padma Bhushan Award from President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

India’s first individual Olympic silver medallist post-independence and current Sports Minister, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, has been a graduate of the National Defence Academy in the early 90’s and served as a member till 2013.

Sachin Tendulkar joined the Indian Air Force with the rank of group captain. He became the first sportsperson to confer honorary and first person without an aviation background to receive this honour. The batsman has since become the face of Indian Air Force of youth.

Kapil Dev joined the Territorial Army in 2008 and was later awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel by the army. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

Abhinav Bindra was awarded the rank of Lieutenant colonel in the Indian army. As Dhoni was given a place in parachute regiment, Bindra joined a TA battalion of Sikh regiment. (Express photo by Renuka Puri)

Jitu Rai joined the 11 Gorkha Regiment as a Sepoy in 2006. He eventually reached the post of Naib-subedar. (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

Celebrated athlete Milkha Singh was commissioned to JCO from Sepoy taking his achievement of Asian games 1958 into confederation. (Express Photo by Sahil Walia)

Dattu Baban Bhokanal, who represents India in rowing, is a Havaldar in the Indian Army. He decided to join the Indian army in 2011 to solve his family’s financial problems. (Source: Reuters)

Indian shooter Vijay Kumar serves as a Subedar Major in the Dogra Regiment (16th Batallion). (Source: Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)