MS Dhoni nominated for Padma Bhushan Award

India’s most successful captain MS Dhoni was nominated for the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, by the BCCI for his outstanding contributions in the field of cricket for the country. The Jharkhand stumper has won two World Cups for India besides winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.

The star player, who has been in good form of late, relinquished the captaincy of the limited-overs sides in January this year. He had already called quits from the Test arena in 2014 and finished the format with 4876 runs at 38.09 which included 6 centuries and 33 fifties. The former skipper is nearing a landmark as he is approaching 10,000 ODI runs. He recently scored a century of half-centuries in international cricket during his match-winning innings of 79 against Australia in Chennai on Sunday.

Dhoni has already won the prestigious Arjuna, Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna, and the Padma Shri Award but this one will be a special one. Only 10 cricketers have managed to win this award with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar the most notable ones on the list.

Dhoni’s prolific run in 2017

The 36-year old is one of the finest cricketers to have ever played for India and is a deserving candidate for this prestigious award. After a dip in form in 2016 which prompted many to question his position in the side, Dhoni shut his critics by scoring a lot of runs this year. He started the year with a memorable 134 against England and has so far amassed 627 runs in 14 innings at an average of 89.57. His strike rate of 85.65 has also been good besides his contributions from behind the stumps.

Dhoni looks certain to last till the 2019 World Cup after a stellar run in the last few months. He still has it in him to help India conquer the ultimate glory.