New Delhi: Tennis legend Vijay Amritraj, World Cup winning captains Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur were among the prominent sportspersons honoured in the Padma Awards for 2026, announced on Sunday.
Amritraj was the only sportsperson to receive the Padma Bhushan this year. India’s third-highest civilian honour, it recognises his pioneering role in putting Indian tennis on the global map during the amateur and early Open Era.
A former Davis Cup stalwart, Amritraj had earlier received the Padma Shri in 1983 and the Arjuna Award in 1974. He had reached the singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open twice and later served Indian sport in various administrative and ambassadorial roles.
Former India captain Rohit and the 2025 ODI World Cup winning skipper Harmanpreet were among several sportspersons named for the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour.
Rohit’s recognition follows a defining leadership phase in Indian men’s cricket. As captain, he guided India to two ICC titles, lifting the T20 World Cup in 2024 and the Champions Trophy in 2025.
After winning the T20 World Cup, Rohit retired from the shortest format and later stepped away from Test cricket in 2025, continuing to feature in ODIs.
Harmanpreet’s Padma Shri comes after a landmark year in Indian women’s cricket. In 2025, she led India to their maiden ICC Women’s World Cup title on home soil, defeating South Africa in the final at Navi Mumbai.
The triumph made her the first Indian captain to lift the Women’s World Cup and only the second Indian skipper overall to win a World Cup at home, after MS Dhoni.
Other sportspersons honoured with the Padma Shri include Paralympic high jump champion Praveen Kumar, Indian women’s hockey goalkeeper Savita Punia and veteran coach Baldev Singh.
Praveen, 22, clinched the gold medal at the Paris Paralympics with a personal best jump of 2.08 metres in the men’s T64 high jump category, which features athletes with limb deficiency or significant leg length discrepancy.
Born with a short leg, Praveen had earlier won a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics and also topped the podium at the 2022 Asian Para Games, establishing himself as one of India’s leading para-athletes.
Savita, on the other hand, has been a mainstay of the Indian women’s hockey team for more than a decade and is widely regarded as one of the finest goalkeepers of her generation.
The 35-year-old from Rajasthan made her senior international debut at the age of 20 and played a pivotal role in India’s historic fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics.
Her experience also proved crucial during India’s appearances at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and the 2018 Women’s Hockey World Cup, where the team reached the quarterfinals.
After taking over the captaincy following the Tokyo Games, Savita led India to a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and a title triumph at the FIH Nations Cup the same year.
Under her leadership, India also won back-to-back Women’s Asian Champions Trophy titles in 2023 and 2024.
Coach Baldev Singh has been recognised for his transformative role in Indian women’s hockey. Widely credited with strengthening the grassroots, he has mentored and guided more than 50 international players and established one of the country’s most productive women’s hockey nurseries.
Former wrestling coach Vladimer Mestvirishvili was awarded the Padma Shri posthumously.
A former Georgian international, Mestvirishvili spent nearly two decades shaping a generation of champions after arriving in the country in 2003.
Mestvirishvili, who had served as coach of the Georgian national team from 1982 to 1992, settled in Haryana and New Delhi, and became a central figure in India’s rise as a global wrestling force.
Known affectionately as Laado within the wrestling fraternity, he played a decisive role in the early development of several of India’s most decorated wrestlers.
His trainees included Olympic medallists Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt and Bajrang Punia, all of whom went on to become flag-bearers of India’s sustained success on the world stage.
Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya and World Championships medallist Deepak Punia also trained under Mestvirishvili during their formative years.
The Centre announced a total of 131 Padma Awards for 2026, comprising five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri honours across various fields, including sports, arts, literature and public service.
