Former Indian spin spearhead Ravichandran Ashwin has been honored with the prestigious Padma Shri award as he joins cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who have received the honor in the past.
The Padma awards, one of the highest civilian honors in the country, are conferred on the eve of Republic Day. Padma awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
Before Ravichandran Ashwin, a number of cricketers have received the prestigious Padma Shri award. Some of the former cricketers who have won the award include Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble.
Cricketer R Ashwin has been awarded the Padma Shri
— Aman Sharma (@AmanKayamHai_) January 25, 2025
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Ravichandran Ashwin’s International Career in Numbers:
Ravichandran Ashwin brought the curtains down on his illustrious international career after the Brisbane Test against Australia last month. The off-spinner decided to retire from international cricket after the conclusion of the third Test in the five-match series.
He retired from international cricket as one of India’s most successful Test bowlers. The 38-year-old ended his career as the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Test history. Among Indians, only Anil Kumble has taken more wickets than Ravichandran Ashwin in the longest format of the game.
He represented India in 106 Tests and took an incredible 537 balls. He made a big impact with the bat as well, scoring 3503 runs with six hundreds and 14 fifties. Widely regarded as one of India’s greatest match-winners, Ashwin has won a record 11 Man of the Series awards, level with Muttiah Muralitharan.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who made his debut for Team India in 2010, represented the national team in both the white-ball formats as well. He was part of the Indian team that won the 2011 World Cup and qualified for the 2023 finals.
He played a total of 116 ODIs and picked up 156 wickets at an average of 33.20. In T20Is, Ashwin played 65 matches and took 72 wickets. Although Ashwin has retired from international cricket, he will continue to be involved in the IPL. In the IPL 2025 mega auction, he was signed up by his first IPL team, Chennai Super Kings.
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