Dhoni nominated for Padma Bhushan

The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India has nominated former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the prestigious Padma Bhushan, the nation's third highest civilian award, for his contribution to the game.

The BCCI, however, has not sent any other name for this year's Padma awards.

It should be noted that Dhoni is already a recipient of the prestigious Arjuna Award, Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Padma Shri Award.

And if the wicketkeeper-batsman is conferred with the Padma Bhushan, he will become only the 11th Indian cricketer to get the third highest civilian honour.

The other notable cricketers, who have been the recipients of the prestigious award, are-- Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Chandu Borde, Dinkar Balwant Deodhar, Cottari Nayudu, and Lala Amarnath.

Dhoni, who made his international debut during the ODI series against Bangladesh in 2004, has notched up 9,737 runs in 302 ODIs besides amassing 4,876 runs in 90 Tests.

The 36-year-old also made 78 T20Is appearances in which he has scored 1,212 runs.

Dhoni has been India's most successful across all formats. He retired from Test cricket in December 2014, but continued to lead the national side in limited-overs before giving up the leadership of the ODI and T20I sides on January 4 this year.

The Ranchi lad is also the only skipper to win all three major ICC tournaments - the 50-over World Cup, the Champions Trophy and the World T20. He also led India to the top of the ICC Test rankings in December 2009.