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Padma Awards 2026: Former India men's cricket team captain Rohit Sharma (left) and Indian women's captain Harmanpreet Kaur. (Photos: AP, Narendra Vaskar/Express Photo)
Former India men’s cricket team captain Rohit Sharma and current women’s team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur will be feted with Padma Shri awards this year, the government announced on Sunday. Among the awardees, tennis legend Vijay Amritraj will be given a Padma BHushan while hockey goalkeeper Savita Punia, the now-deceased Georgian wrestling coach Vladimir Mestvirishvili, Baldev Singh, Bhagwandas Raikwar, K Pajanivel and Praveen Kumar will all be given Padma Shris.
Harmanpreet led the Indian women’s cricket team to a historic World Cup title at home while Rohit will be part of the Indian men’s team that will try and win the T20 World Cup at home.
Padma Awards 2026: Check full list of winners
Mestvirishvili was the famed coach of Indian wrestlers like Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya.
A statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs noted that for the year 2026, the President has approved conferment of 131 Padma Awards. The list comprises 5 Padma Vibhushan awardees, 13 Padma Bhushan awardees and 113 Padma Shri Award winners. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes six persons from the category of Foreigners / NRI / PIO / OCI and 16 posthumous awardees.
Explained: What are the Padma awards
The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian awards of the country and are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities, such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
The ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service. The ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year.
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