Indian skipper Virat Kohli received the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in India, on Thursday. The award was bestowed upon him by President Pranab Mukherjee. Kohli has had a phenomenal year in cricket where he’s scored with the bat and to top it all off, led the side to unprecedented success. He led the Indian team to the No. 1 Test ranking after taking over the reins from Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli was among the eight sportspersons who were picked for the prestigious Padma Shri alongside hockey captain PR Sreejesh, Rio Olympics heroes wrestler Sakshi Malik, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Paralympian Mariyappan Thangavelu and Deepa Malik, discus thrower Vikas Gowda and blind cricket team captain Shekhar Naik.
The eight sportspersons are among the 89 Padma Awardees announced by the government on the eve of the Republic Day. There were no recipients for the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan.
