The Padma Shri is India's fourth-highest civilian award, ranking after the Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, and Padma Bhushan. Instituted on January 2, 1954, it is conferred for distinguished contributions in various fields such as art, education, industry, literature, science, acting, medicine, social service, and public affairs. The Government of India presents this award annually on Republic Day (January 26).
To date, 15 cricketers have received this prestigious honor, including two female cricketers: Jhulan Goswami and former Indian women's team captain Mithali Raj.
On the eve of Republic Day in 2026, the government announced that Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur would be honored with the Padma Shri. Both cricketers were formally presented with the award at Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 23.
Which Indian cricketers received the Padma Shri award in 2026?
Rohit Sharma, former captain of the Indian men's team and the captain who led the side to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup, will be honoured with the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2026, alongside Harmanpreet Kaur, the current captain of the Indian women's cricket team.
#WATCH | Delhi | Former Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Rohit Sharma, awarded the Padma Shri by President Droupadi Murmu
— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2026
(Video source: Rashtrapati Bhavan) pic.twitter.com/ckz1kc4poF
Harmanpreet Kaur became the first Indian captain to win an ICC trophy in women's cricket when India secured their maiden Women's ODI World Cup title by defeating Pakistan last year.
President Droupadi Murmu confers #PadmaShri upon captain of the Indian women’s cricket team Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar
— PIB India (@PIB_India) May 25, 2026
One of the most dynamic and impactful cricketers of her generation, she led India to its historic first Women’s Cricket World Cup title #PeoplesPadma… pic.twitter.com/Iuzu9326fh
Year-wise list of Indian cricketers who have won the Padma Shri award
- Vijay Hazare - 1960
- Jasu Patel - 1960
- Nari Contractor - 1962
- Polly Umrigar - 1962
- Syed Mushtaq Ali - 1963
- M.J. Gopalan - 1964
- D.B. Deodhar - 1965
- Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi - 1967
- Chandu Borde - 1969
- Bishan Singh Bedi - 1970
- E.A.S. Prasanna - 1970
- Gundappa Viswanath - 1971
- B.S. Chandrasekhar - 1972
- Ajit Wadekar - 1972
- Farokh Engineer - 1973
- Pankaj Roy - 1975
- Syed Kirmani - 1982
- Kapil Dev - 1982
- Chuni Goswami - 1984
- Mohammed Shahid - 1986
- Dilip Vengsarkar - 1987
- Mohammad Azharuddin - 1988
- Sachin Tendulkar - 1999
- Diana Edulji - 2002
- Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan - 2003
- Rahul Dravid - 2004
- Sourav Ganguly - 2004
- Anil Kumble - 2005
- MS Dhoni - 2009
- Harbhajan Singh - 2009
- Virender Sehwag - 2010
- VVS Laxman - 2011
- Jhulan Goswami - 2012
- Yuvraj Singh - 2014
- Mithali Raj - 2015
- Virat Kohli - 2017
- Gautam Gambhir - 2019
- Zaheer Khan – 2020
- Gurcharan Singh - 2023
- Ravichandran Ashwin - 2025
- Rohit Sharma - 2026
- Harmanpreet Kaur - 2026
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