Dhoni, Pankaj Advani receive Padma Bhushan at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Agencies
April 3, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 2: Former India cricket captain M S Dhoni, ace cueist Pankaj Advani and actor Manoj Joshi were among several noted personalities who received the Padma awards from President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony here today.

Dressed in an Army uniform, Dhoni marched to the dais to receive Padma Bhushan from the president amid a huge round of applause from the audience. Dhoni was conferred with the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel by the Indian territorial Army in 2011.

Besides Dhoni and Advani, folk artist Sharda Sinha, contemporary Indian artist Laxman Pai and former Ambassador of Russia to India, Alexander Kadakin (posthumously), were also presented with the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian award after Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan, by Kovind.

The president presented five Padma Bhushan and 38 Padma Shri awards at the civil investiture ceremony held at the Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan were among several dignitaries present at the function.

People from different walks of life were awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, during the ceremony.

Veteran actor Joshi, Dasmodar Ganesh Bapat, who is working towards eradication of leprosy, and L Subadani Devi, Manipur-based weaver, were among those presented with Padma Shri.

Karnataka-based Sufi bhajan singer Ibrahim Nabisaheb Sutar, wildlife conservationist Romulus Whitaker and Mizoram's educationist A Zakia were also conferred Padma Shri.

The award was conferred to foreigners also.

Phillipines' Jose Ma Joey Concepcion was awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution in trade and industry.

Malaysia's Datuk Ramli Ibrahim (Art-dance), Bounlap Keokangna of Laos (for architecture), Cambodia's Hun Many (public affairs), Japan's Prof Tomio Mizokami (literature and education), Myanmar's Thant Myint -U (public affairs) and Indonesia's Bapak Nyoman Nuarta (art-sculpture) were also conferred Padma Shri.

Brunei Darussalam's Malai Haji Abdullah Bin Haji Malai (for social work), Tajikistan's Prof Habibullo Rajabov (literature and education), Nepal's Sanduk Ruit (medicine-oncology) and Vietnam's Nguyen Tien Thien (for spiritualism) were among those awarded Padma Shri.

Prof Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi (for literature and education), Vikram Chandra Thakur (science and engineering), Pankaj Manubhai Shah (medicine-oncology), Prof Chandra Sekhar Rath (posthumous) for contribution in literature and education, M R Rajagopal (medicine-pallative care), Bhabani Charan Pattanaik (public affairs) and Keshavrao Sadashiv Shastri Musalgaonkar (literature and education) were also given Padma Shri.

Among others, Gujarat's Zaverilal Dalpatram Mehta (journalism), Vijaylakshmi Navneet Krishnan (folk music) and Prafulla Govinda Baruah (journalism) were also conferred with the Padma Shri.

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Agencies
April 15,2020

Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey has heaped praise on MS Dhoni, saying the veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman is the "greatest finisher" the game of cricket has ever seen.

"Dhoni is the greatest finisher of all time that the cricketing world has ever produced," Hussey said while speaking to Sanjay Manjrekar on ESPNcricinfo's Videocast.

"Dhoni can keep his cool and make the opposition captain blink first. Dhoni also has unbelievable power. He knows that when he needs to clear the ropes, he can do it. He has that kind of self-belief. Honestly, I didn't have that kind of belief in myself," he added.

The former Australian batsman, who shared the dressing room with Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings, said the 38-year-old Indian believes in the philosophy that he who panics last, wins the game.

"I tried not to let it reach 12 or 13 runs an over," said Hussey while talking about his ability to finish the game without much hiccups.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"Supportive owners who let coach Stephen Fleming and captain Dhoni decide how to run the team, excellent chemistry between the coach and the captain, Dhoni's leadership and lastly the foresight of the owners, Fleming and Dhoni to pick the best players, particularly the good Indian players and then stick with them for as long as possible."

"This has built an excellent continuity in the team. And once you have continuity, you build relationships and trust that otherwise takes time to grow," he added.

Hussey also said that once Dhoni bids adieu to the game, CSK would probably like to start all over again.

"That's a 60-million-dollar question, and I am equally intrigued. I believe the owners would like to keep Dhoni involved in some way or the other," said Hussey.

"However, whenever the change of guard happens, CSK might want to start all over again, build a brand, new team, and use their existing philosophy as they enter the next decade of IPL. It is definitely going to be more challenging in current times," he added.

Dhoni was supposed to lead CSK in the 13th IPL edition which now stands postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Northamptonshire, Jul 31: Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez has tested positive for coronavirus, and as a result, he will miss the British Grand Prix.

The Racing Point driver was absent from the circuit on Thursday after self-isolating following what his team called an "inconclusive" test. Perez then re-tested later in the day and it returned positive.

Formula 1 is following a strict testing regime as part of the safety protocols put in place when racing resumed earlier this month, and this is the first time a driver has tested positive.

"Perez has entered self-quarantine in accordance with the instructions of the relevant public health authorities, and will continue to follow the procedure mandated by those authorities," Formula 1 and the FIA said in a statement.

"With the assistance of the local organiser of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA COVID-19 delegate, a full track and trace initiative has been undertaken and all close contacts have been quarantined," the statement added.

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