Kohli & Deepa conferred with the Padma Shri

TIL Desk Sports/ Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, hockey captain PR Sreejesh, 2016 Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik, and para-athletes Deepa Malik and Mariyappan Thangavelu were on Thursday conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi.

God has been kind,” tweeted Virat Kohli after receiving the Padma Shri from President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday. Kohli has led the Indian cricket team to successive Test series win at home in recent times.

Apart from Virat Kohli, Paralympian Deepa Malik and hockey captain P.R. Sreejesh were honoured with the Padma Shri. Besides Kohli, Sreejesh and Deepa Malik, five other sportspersons were named for the prestigious Padma Shri when the honours list was declared on the Republic Day on January 26.

The list included Rio Olympics bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, Paralympian Mariyappan Thangavelu, discus thrower Vikas Gowda and blind cricket team captain Shekhar Naik. The dignitaries presented on the occasion were vice-president Mohammed Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.