Posted by slingamc | at 8:57 AM
Tendulkar received the Arjuna Award in 1994 for outstanding sporting achievement, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 1997, India's highest sporting honour, and the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan awards in 1999 and 2008, respectively, India's fourth and second highest civilian awards and within a few hours of ending of his final match on 16 November 2013, the Prime Minister's Office announced the decision to award Tendulkar with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, making him the youngest recipient to date and the first ever sportsperson to receive the award.[19][20] He also won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards.[21] In 2012, Tendulkar was nominated to Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.[22] He was also the first sportsperson (and the first without an aviation background) to be awarded the honorary rank of Group Captain by the Indian Air Force.[23] In 2012, he was named an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia.[24]
