India’s civilian honour system documents the nation’s sporting legacy through official recognition.
The Padma Shri represents the fourth tier of these awards, consistently acknowledging cricket excellence since 1960.
The 2026 announcement added two recipients to this historical record.
This brings the total List of Cricketers Awarded Padma Shri to 42 individuals spanning 66 years of Indian cricket.
The award transcends match statistics and tournament victories.
It validates long-term contribution to sport, national representation, and influence beyond playing careers across multiple eras.
Full List Of Cricketers Awarded Padma Shri

Chronological record of Indian Cricketers Awarded Padma Shri (Till 2026)
| Decade | Cricketer | Year | Primary Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | Vijay Hazare | 1960 | Captain / Batter |
| 1960s | Jasu Patel | 1960 | Bowler |
| 1960s | Nari Contractor | 1962 | Captain / Opener |
| 1960s | Polly Umrigar | 1962 | Batter |
| 1960s | Syed Mushtaq Ali | 1963 | Opener |
| 1960s | M.J. Gopalan | 1964 | All-rounder |
| 1960s | D.B. Deodhar | 1965 | Pioneer / Administrator |
| 1960s | Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi | 1967 | Captain / Batter |
| 1960s | Chandu Borde | 1969 | All-rounder |
| 1970s | Bishan Singh Bedi | 1970 | Left-arm Spinner |
| 1970s | E.A.S Prasanna | 1970 | Off-spinner |
| 1970s | Gundappa Vishwanath | 1971 | Batter |
| 1970s | B.S Chandrasekhar | 1972 | Leg-spinner |
| 1970s | Ajit Wadekar | 1972 | Captain / Batter |
| 1970s | Farokh Engineer | 1973 | Wicketkeeper-batter |
| 1970s | Pankaj Roy | 1975 | Opener |
| 1980s | Syed Kirmani | 1982 | Wicketkeeper |
| 1980s | Kapil Dev | 1982 | Captain / All-rounder |
| 1980s | Chuni Goswami | 1984 | Batter / Footballer |
| 1980s | Mohammad Shahid | 1986 | Fast Bowler |
| 1980s | Dilip Vengsarkar | 1987 | Batter |
| 1980s | Mohammad Azharuddin | 1988 | Captain / Batter |
| 1990s | Sachin Tendulkar | 1999 | Batter |
| 2000s | Diana Edulji | 2002 | All-rounder (Women) |
| 2000s | S. Venkataraghavan | 2003 | Off-spinner |
| 2000s | Rahul Dravid | 2004 | Captain / Batter |
| 2000s | Sourav Ganguly | 2004 | Captain / All-rounder |
| 2000s | Anil Kumble | 2005 | Leg-spinner |
| 2000s | MS Dhoni | 2009 | Captain / Wicketkeeper-batter |
| 2000s | Harbhajan Singh | 2009 | Off-spinner |
| 2010s | Virender Sehwag | 2010 | Opener |
| 2010s | VVS Laxman | 2011 | Batter |
| 2010s | Jhulan Goswami | 2012 | Fast Bowler (Women) |
| 2010s | Yuvraj Singh | 2014 | All-rounder |
| 2010s | Mithali Raj | 2015 | Captain / Batter (Women) |
| 2010s | Virat Kohli | 2017 | Captain / Batter |
| 2010s | Gautam Gambhir | 2019 | Opener |
| 2020s | Zaheer Khan | 2020 | Fast Bowler |
| 2020s | Gurcharan Singh | 2023 | Administrator |
| 2020s | Ravichandran Ashwin | 2025 | Off-spinner |
| 2020s | Rohit Sharma | 2026 | Captain / Opener |
| 2020s | Harmanpreet Kaur | 2026 | Captain / Batter (Women) |
This list of Padma Shri Award recipients in cricket 2026 shows concentrated recognition during the 1960s-1970s and 2000s-2020s. The 1990s saw only one cricketer honored.
Padma Shri Award — Origin and National Relevance
The Padma Shri was instituted on January 2, 1954, by the Government of India. It ranks fourth among civilian honours after Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, and Padma Bhushan.
The award recognizes distinguished service across arts, sports, literature, science, public affairs, and social work. The Ministry of Home Affairs manages nominations and selections annually.
Republic Day serves as the traditional announcement date for all Padma awards. The President of India conducts the investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Cricket features prominently due to its cultural significance in India. The sport’s reach across states and international visibility strengthens candidacy for national recognition through this Padma Shri Awarded Cricketers system.
Vijay Hazare became the first cricketer honored in 1960. Since then, the award has acknowledged Test pioneers, World Cup winners, and contemporary format specialists consistently.
Why Cricketers Qualify for Padma Shri Recognition?
- Sustained impact on Indian cricket: Recognition requires prolonged excellence spanning multiple years or decades. Single-season brilliance or one tournament performance rarely qualifies for the list of Padma Shri Award recipients in cricket in India.
- Performance at the highest level: International cricket forms the primary evaluation criterion. Test cricket historically carried maximum weight, though ODI and T20I contributions now factor significantly into selection decisions.
- Leadership and team-building roles: Captaincy experience and senior player responsibilities strengthen nominations. Players who shaped team culture, mentored juniors, or handled transitional phases receive favorable consideration for the Padma Shri award cricket player list.
- Post-retirement contribution: Coaching appointments, commentary roles, BCCI positions, and grassroots development work add value. Several awardees received recognition years after retirement based on continued service to Indian cricket.
- National representation over eras: The selection process balances different generations and formats. This explains why the list of Padma Shri Award recipients in cricket pdf includes pioneers from the 1960s alongside modern T20 specialists.
Conclusion: List of cricketers awarded Padma Shri 2026
The List of Cricketers Awarded Padma Shri documents 66 years of Indian cricket evolution. The 1960s-1970s dominated early recognition with 16 recipients across two decades.
The 2000s marked a renewed focus, with 10 cricketers honored between 2002 and 2009. This period coincided with India’s rise in global cricket through Test series victories and the 2007 T20 World Cup triumph.
Women’s cricket representation has remained limited to four players since Diana Edulji in 2002. Harmanpreet Kaur’s 2026 inclusion follows India’s maiden Women’s ODI World Cup victory.
The Virat Kohli Padma Shri award in 2017 came during his peak captaincy tenure. Most recent-era players received recognition within five years of their career peaks or retirement.
Higher civilian honours remain rare for cricketers. When examining how many cricketers got the Padma Bhushan award, the answer remains zero. Only Sachin Tendulkar holds the Bharat Ratna among cricket players, received in 2014.
The Padma Shri award cricketer list PDF maintained by the government archives is updated annually. The Padma Vibhushan award list includes no cricketers currently, positioning Padma Shri as the primary recognition tier for the sport.
Key observations from the complete List of Cricketers Awarded Padma Shri record:
- Spinners dominate bowling awardees across eras
- Multiple World Cup-winning captains honored within two years of their victories
- Test specialists from the 1960s to the 1990s received recognition during their active careers
- Modern players typically honored post-retirement or near the end
- Women cricketers have averaged one recipient per decade since 2002