Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA demands Bharat Ratna for MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2018.
Team India has handed over 231 ODI caps, 296 Test caps and 82 T20I caps till date. Of these hundreds of cricketers who represented India at the highest level, Sachin Tendulkar is the only one to be bestowed with the prestigious Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. For all his contributions to the sport, Sachin clearly deserved it. However, there are now demands that the Bharat Ratna should be presented to MS Dhoni as well.
MS Dhoni has had such an impact on Indian cricket like no other captain ever did. He is the only captain from across the world to have won the 50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy. On 15th August 2020, the 39-year-old decided to put a full-stop to his international career. Since then, he has received several congratulatory messages. There were also demands that he should take back his announcement. However, a Congress MLA from Madhya Pradesh came up with a unique demand.
The country’s gem should be given Bharat Ratna
A Congress MLA from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, PC Sharma, tweeted demanding Bharat Ratna for MS Dhoni. Moreover, he tagged MS Dhoni and the Prime Minister Office (PMO) in his tweet. His tweet read, “The man who established Indian cricket as the world champion, the country’s gem – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, should be conferred with the Bharat Ratna.”
“Dhoni is the Bharat Ratna of sports. He has lifted the country’s name high in cricket, so he should be conferred with the highest civilian honour,” Outlook India reported the MLA as saying. Initially, sportspersons were not eligible to receive the Bharat Ratna. But in 2011, a revision to the rules made eligible “any field of human endeavour”.
MS Dhoni, who made his debut back in 2004 and played for 15 years, has already been conferred by several prestigious awards by the Indian government. He was given the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award back in 2007 just when he was starting to make it big on the international stage. Then, two years later, in 2009, he even received the Padma Shri. In 2018, the 39-year-old was honoured with the Padma Bhushan.
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