Batting great Rahul Dravid received India's third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, from President Pranab Mukherjee during a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan's Darbar Hall Friday.
Former boxer Ngangom Dingko Singh and rower Bajrang Lal Takhar received the country's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri.
"It was a great feeling. Surprisingly, it worked out all fine for me. Tomorrow, I am playing our IPL match here and today I got this award. I would have gone anyway to receive this award. I'm happy my family is here besides me," Dravid told reporters on receiving the award.
The 40-year-old will be leading Rajasthan Royals against the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Saturday. The prolific batsman scored 13,288 runs in 164 Tests at an average of 52.31 and amassed 10,889 runs in 344 ODIs, averaging 39.16.
This year's list of honours were announced Jan 25 and another ceremony is expected later for presentation of the awards to the remaining recipients. Boxer M.C. Mary Kom was also named for Padma Bhushan while shooter Vijay Kumar, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, mountaineer Premlata Agrawal, para-athlete Hosanagara Nagarajegowda Girisha were named in the list of Padma Shris.