New Delhi: Lt. Colonel (Hony) Mahendra Singh Dhoni marched and collected his Padma Bhushan award from President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday. Dhoni, dressed smartly in his territorial army uniform collected the award as the crowd broke into thunderous applause. And post the ceremony, the former India skipper said that accepting the honour in uniform increased his excitement.
Taking to Instagram, Dhoni posted a series of photos from Monday’s event which included his family as well. The post read: “An honour to get the Padma Bhushan and receiving it in Uniform increases the excitement ten folds.thanks to all the Men and Women in Uniform and their families for the Sacrifices they make so that all of us could enjoy our Constitutional Rights.Jai Hind.”
Along with Dhoni, Pankaj Advani was also conferred with the Padma Bhushan. It was on the very same day way back in 2011 that Dhoni launched pacer Nuwan Kulasekara for a whacking six over the long-on to end India's 28-year-old wait and helped his team lift the coveted World Cup trophy in front of a jam-packed Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Dhoni is regarded as one of the most successful Indian captains of all time. He was made skipper of the Indian T20I side in 2007 before the inaugural T20I World Cup which India went on to win. He was then made ODI captain and became the Test captain after the retirement of Anil Kumble.
He led India to the top of the Test rankings, the first time the team reached the position and led India to the World Cup in 2011. He was the first Indian captain to do so since Kapil Dev in 1983.
He also led India to the Champions Trophy 2013. He retired from Test cricket in 2014 and in January 2017, relinquished limited overs captaincy too leading to Virat Kohli taking over in all three formats.
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