Dhoni's father to accept Khel Ratna

MS Dhoni's father will receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on behalf of India's ODI and T20 skipper on Friday.

Dhoni, who is at present leading the side in Sri Lanka, was this year selected for the Khel Ratna - the highest sports award in the country - by a 15-member committee headed by former Olympian Milkha Singh.

President Pratibha Patil will give away the award, along with Arjuna and Dronacharya Awards, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday, August 29 which is celebrated as National Sports Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Dhyan Chand.

Apart from Dhoni, who becomes the second cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar to get the Khel Ratna, 10 sportspersons in as many disciplines will receive the Arjuna Award.

Among the Arjuna awardees are star golfer Arjun Atwal, Olympic shooter Avneet Kaur and athlete Chitra Soman, who was a part of India's 4x400 women's relay team in Beijing.

Soman was also the member of the relay team that won the gold medal in the last Asian Games and the Asian championships.

Hockey player Prabhjot Singh, who played a lead role in India's win in the senior Asia Cup and was later nominated for the World Player of the Year award, will also get the Arjuna award.

Rower Bajrang Lal Thakkar, who participated in the single sculls competition at Beijing, and shuttler Anup Sridhar have also been selected for the award.

Apart from the athletes, four coaches in as many disciplines will be awarded the Dronacharya Award, while Hakam Singh (athletics), Mukhbain Singh (hockey) and Gyan Singh (wrestling) will be conferred with the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement.

List of awardees

Dronacharya Award: Sanjeeva Singh (archery), Jagdish Singh (Boxing), Sreedharan (volleyball) and Jagminder Singh (wrestling).

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Arjuna Award: Chitra Soman (athletics), Anup Sridhar (badminton), Verghese Johnson (boxing), Harika D. (chess), Arjun Atwal (golf), Prabhjot Singh (hocke

HE TRULY DESERVES THIS AWARD

DHONI not DESERVES THIS HONOUR at this stage of his career

LOOK AT HIS CAREER STATISTICS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR INDIA IN THE PAST HE TRULY DESERVES IT DONT LOOK AT HIS AGE