Cricket

Dhoni to be awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

India’s One-day and Twenty20 cricket captain MS Dhoni will be awarded the country’s highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

He becomes only the second cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar to be given the honour. Tendulkar won the award in 1997-98.

Dhoni led India’s Twenty20 team to a memorable win at the World Cup in South Africa, and followed it up by leading a young team to victory in the One-day tri-series in Australia after the twenty-seven-year-old Dhoni took over as India’s One-day captain when Rahul Dravid resigned in 2007. Dravid has himself lost out on the award after being nominated twice.

Among other prominent sportspersons to have won the honour are Vishwanathan Anand (chess), Leander Paes (tennis), Geet Sethi (billiards), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (shooting) and Dhanraj Pillay (hockey).

Tags: Dhanraj Pillay, Geet Sethi, leander paes, MS Dhoni, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, sachin tendulkar, vishwanathan anand