In-form Indian batsman Suresh Raina congratulated his teammate MS Dhoni as the former Indian captain was conferred with the country’s third highest civilian award-Padma Bhushan. Raina, who has shared the dressing room with Dhoni while playing for India and Chennai Super Kings in the IPL was over the moon on knowing the latest news on the internet.

Dhoni has earlier received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2007 and the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour, in 2009. One of the most successful captains in the history of cricket, The Ranchi-born cricketer led India to World Cup victories in 2007 and 2011. And under his leadership, India grabbed the number one spot in the ICC Test rankings in December 2009.

BCCI backed Dhoni for the prestigious award

While nominating his name for the prestigious award, BCCI’s acting president CK Khanna had said that Dhoni was ‘a unanimous and the most choice.’

“It was a unanimous decision by the members. He has been one of the greatest names in contemporary cricket and the most appropriate choice of the Indian cricket board. He is one of our greatest ODI cricketers with nearly 10,000 runs in ODIs. Not many players have played 90 Test matches. There is no one better than him, who could have been nominated,” Khanna had said.

Raina also congratulated Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on winning Padma award. The 24-year old badminton player is currently third ranked in world rankings and has won titles last year including four Super Series.

Dhoni-Raina combo set to sizzle in IPL

Dhoni and Raina will turn out for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL this year. A few days back, the stumper spoke about his relationship with the IPL franchise and how he sees the support.

 “A lot of people approached me. I can’t think of not coming back to CSK.”

Dhoni had said that Chennai is his second home.

“It’s because of everything- what we have been through, how we have conducted ourselves, how the management, players and fans have been. It is a second home to me. The fans over here have adopted me. They accept me as one of their own. There can’t be any bigger compliment than that. This is a special place, and the thought of being with any other franchise was never a question.” he had said.