Cricketer and the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Virat Kohli on January 26 expressed his delight after he was e conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri saying that it was honour to receive it. He added that the announcement of the same on India’s 68th Republic Day makes it even more special.
“It’s a huge honour for me to receive the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour of the country, It’s not related to sports, but an appreciation by the whole country. It gives me huge pleasure to receive this award and something that I am very grateful about,” Virat Kohli said. “I came to know about this yesterday, my family, my coach and all the people close to me are very happy about it and it is indeed a very proud moment for me,” Kohli added.
Kohli who is leading India for the first time in the T20 internationals against England, asserted that announcing the award on the occasion of the Republic Day makes it more special.
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Ahead of the 68th Republic Day, the government of India on January 25 released the list of Padma awardees that includes Paralympic Gold medalist Mariyappan Thangavelu and Gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Virat Kohli, Shekar Naik (Captain of Indian Blind Cricket Team) and Sakshi Malik.
According to the reports, people were chosen from various professions and regions of the country from around 16,000 applications received. The list was than shunted down to 4,500 before the awardees were finalised.
Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
