Zeenews Bureau
Adelaide, Jan 26: Sachin Tendulkar expressed his gratitude to the Indian government for conferring him with the Padma Vibhushan.
Thanking the government for the honour bestowed on him, the batting stalwart said that of all the awards he has received so far, the Padma Vibhushan, country’s second biggest civilian award, was the most special. "It`s truly a great honour to accept this award as this
is recognised by the Government of India. I have played for so
many years and when government recognises your
effort, gives you the second highest civilian award in the
country, it`s very, very special,
" the Little Master was quoted as saying.
The 34 year old, who is currently on a tour to Australia, is going through a purple patch. He has already notched up two centuries in what many believe to be his last tour Down Under.
On his immediate reaction, he revealed, "... I came to know about it yesterday through my wife. I
was extremely excited by it but since I was in the middle of
the match, it was important to keep my focus on the game."
The Mumbaikar is among five sportspersons selected for this year`s Padma awards.
Besides him, the reigning chess World Champion Vishwanathan Anand and the late Edmund Hillary, the first to scale Mt Everest, have also been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, while footballer Baichung Bhutia, who led the Indian team to their maiden Nehru Cup triumph last year and swimmer Bula Chowdhury have been named for the Padma Shri.
"It means a lot to me to get this award alongside such
great personalities. It`s truly something which I can only
dream of," he said.
The champion batsman also congratulated the other
awardees.
"I want to take this opportunity to congratulate other
awardees. It`s fantastic to be in the same list," he said.
Since his international Test debut against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 as a 16 year old, Sachin has received the Arjuna award in 1994 and Padma Shri in 1999. Besides, he was also honoured with the country`s highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1998.
In his two decade long career, Sachin has been chosen as the Wisden cricketer of the year in 1997 while the Time magazine named him as one of the Asian heroes in November 2006.
