Two Indian cricketers to receive Padma Shri for sporting excellence

Indian cricket icons Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar will be honoured with the Padma Shri in the Sports category. The award recognises their outstanding contribution to Indian cricket over the years. Both have captained Indian teams through moments of history. Their successes have bridged formats and generations.

Rohit Sharma's Padma Shri comes after a highly successful phase as the captain of the India men's team. India won two major ICC trophies under his captaincy. The team lifted the Men’s T20 World Cup in 2024 and the Champions Trophy in 2025. Soon after the T20 World Cup win, Rohit retired from T20Is.

Rohit later retired from Test cricket in 2025 and nowadays plays only ODIs. He has scored 20,109 runs across international cricket. His record includes 50 centuries and 111 half-centuries. From an elegant batter to a title-winning captain, the growth was complemented by consistency.

Leaders Who Created History

Harmanpreet Kaur’s Padma Shri follows one of the biggest moments in Indian women’s cricket. She became the first Indian captain to win an ICC Women’s World Cup. India defeated South Africa by 52 runs in the final at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The win gave India their first Women’s World Cup title at home.

With that triumph, Harmanpreet also became only the second Indian captain to win a World Cup on home soil. MS Dhoni was the first, having led India to the 2011 Men’s World Cup title in Mumbai. The Padma Shri for Rohit and Harmanpreet honours leadership, legacy, and moments that changed Indian cricket history.