The former India captain’s name has been rejected twice for the same — in 2013 and 2016
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated MS Dhoni for country’s third highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan, once again. The former India captain’s name has been rejected twice for the same — in 2013 and 2016.
In less than six months (March 2017) after the central government rejected Dhoni’s name along with that of controversial religious figure Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh nominated under the sports category, BCCI has pushed former India skipper’s name once again for the Padma Bhushan award.
The government had given no reason why the cricketer was not conferred with the honour.
According to highly-placed sources in the sports ministry, Dhoni’s chances of making it to the prestigious award even this time around are bleak. This, due to his name being repeatedly discussed during the trial into the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing case in the Supreme Court.
A ministry official, who was involved in scrutiny of Dhoni’s name last time around, told DNA on Wednesday, “As per Justice Mukul Mudgal-led inquiry committee report, Dhoni had no qualms about accepting the vice-president’s post in India Cements, the company owned by his team’s owner and then president N Srinivasan.
He added, “Moreover, it is also no secret that Dhoni lied before the enquiry committee about accused Gurunath Meiyappan’s status in Chennai Super Kings.”
DNA has learnt that Dhoni’s name was cleared in routine by the board’s CEO before being sent to the Committee of Administrators (COA) for the stamp.
The acting president of BCCI CK Khanna is trying to take all the credit by saying “it was an unanimous decision by the members”.
When inquired, Khanna’s colleague in the board challenged him to produce any document where BCCI members passed such a resolution.
“Dhoni’s name was never discussed in any of the recent BCCI meetings,” said another official, adding: “This is between CEO and COA.”
Past records
As per the records, BCCI last nominated Dhoni in 2013 for the same award. In 2016, his name was not forwarded by BCCI but came from his own state.
“Why is BCCI pushing Dhoni’s name again despite all the controversies in the recent past is something which only the CEO can answer. However, even players like Rahul Dravid were never even given a second chance to get the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna after he failed to get the nod at the first place,” a BCCI insider questioned the move.
CAB’s plea
Meanwhile, the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) has filed an application in the Apex court to reveal names in the “sealed envelope” concerning the IPL spot-fixing controversy in order to cleanse the game.
“We all know that there are 13 names in that envelope. Out of those, four or five were also revealed by the Hon’ble court. It is high time that other names should also be made public to save cricket in India,” said CAB secretary Aditya Verma.
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