The Padma Shri is India’s fourth-highest civilian award, given to those who have provided distinguished service to the nation. In the world of cricket, this award (Padma Shri) serves as a “Hall of Fame,” recognizing players who have elevated the sport through their skill, leadership, and sportsmanship.
From the early days of Indian cricket to the modern global era, here is the complete journey of cricketers who have been honored with Padma Shri.
(1960–1969)
The tradition began in 1960, honoring the pioneers who built India’s cricketing identity.
- 1960: Vijay Hazare & Jasu Patel
- 1962: Nari Contractor & Polly Umrigar
- 1963: Syed Mushtaq Ali
- 1964: M.J. Gopalan
- 1965: D.B. Deodhar
- 1967: Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi
- 1969: Chandu Borde
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(1970–1989)
This era celebrated the spinners and world-class batsmen who made India a force to be reckoned with.
- 1970: Bishan Singh Bedi & E.A.S. Prasanna
- 1971: Gundappa Vishwanath
- 1972: Ajit Wadekar & B.S. Chandrasekhar
- 1973: Farokh Engineer
- 1975: Pankaj Roy
- 1982: Kapil Dev & Syed Kirmani
- 1984: Sunil Gavaskar
- 1987: Dilip Vengsarkar
(1990–2010)
As cricket became a religion in India, the government began recognizing the “Golden Generation” and the pioneers of the women’s game.
- 1991: Mohammad Azharuddin
- 1999: Sachin Tendulkar
- 2002: Diana Edulji
- 2003: S. Venkataraghavan
- 2004: Rahul Dravid & Sourav Ganguly
- 2005: Anil Kumble
- 2009: MS Dhoni & Pankaj Advani (Multi-sport recognition)
- 2010: Virender Sehwag
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(2011–Present)
In the last fifteen years, the Padma Shri award has expanded to include T20 stars, prolific run-scorers, and record-breaking women athletes.
- 2011: VVS Laxman
- 2012: Jhulan Goswami
- 2014: Yuvraj Singh & Anjum Chopra
- 2015: Mithali Raj
- 2017: Virat Kohli
- 2019: Gautam Gambhir
- 2020: Zaheer Khan
- 2023: Gurcharan Singh (Honored for coaching)
- 2025: Ravichandran Ashwin
- 2026: Rohit Sharma & Harmanpreet Kaur
The 2026 honors for Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur celebrate their historic leadership, with Rohit winning the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy, and Harmanpreet leading India to their first-ever Women’s ODI World Cup title in 2025.