Cricketers Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur were conferred with Padma Shri awards, the list of which was announced on Sunday. Legendary tennis player Vijay Amritraj was conferred with the Padma Bhusan award. The duo joins an elite list of cricketers who have received the honour previously. 40 cricketers had recieved before Harmanpreet and Rohit.

Harmanpreet became the first Indian captain to win an ICC World Cup. The 36-year-old led India to their maiden ICC Women’s World Cup title at home last year, beating South Africa in the final. On the other hand, Rohit led India to two ICC titles within a gap of nine months.

After leading India to T20 World Cup title in 2024, it was under Rohit’s leadership, the 38-year-old guided the Men in Blue to the ICC Champions Trophy title in 2025. Rohit had retired from Tests and T20Is.

The announcement came on the eve of Republic Day. A total of 131 Padma awards for 2026 were announced, including five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. There were two cases where the award for two individuals is counted as one.

Besides Rohit and Harmanpreet, Baldev Singh was considered for Padma Shri for revolutionising women’s hockey in the country as a coach, while Bhagwandas Raikwar was honoured for his work in martial arts. Puducherry’s K Pajanivel was rewarded for nurturing Silambam, an ancient Tamil weapon-based martial art.

Indian para high jumper Praveen Kumar and women’s national team goalkeeper Savita Punia also were in the list of Padma Shri awardees. Legendary wrestling coach Vladimir Mestvirishvili, who trained the likes of Olympic medal winners Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, and Bajrang Punia, was given Padma Shri posthumously. Mestvirishvili died last year.

What are Padma awards given for?

The Padma awards are given every year on the Republic Day. Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service while 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.