CURRENT UPDATE : UNITED KINGDOM’S 2014 ASIAN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SPORTS

MS DHONI WINS  UNITED KINGDOM’S 2014 ASIAN AWARD

FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SPORTS

Indian Cricket Captain MS Dhoni has won United Kingdom’s 2014 Asian award for outstanding achievement in sports. Dhoni, currently in Bangladesh leading India into the finals of ICC World T20, was honoured on Friday night at London.

Former England cricketer Mark Ramprakash, who was to present the award at the glittering ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, read out a message from Dhoni “dedicating the award” to his fans in Asia and all over the world.

The citation said, “Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers in limited overs cricket. Under his captaincy, India has won numerous awards including the ICC World T20 2007, the CB Series [Commonwealth Bank] of 2007-08, the Asia Cup 2010, the ICC World Cup 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.

“In 2013, Dhoni became the first captain to win all the three ICC trophies. Dhoni was ranked 16th on the Forbes list of highest paid athletes.” 

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman of Poonawalla Group which includes Serium Institute of India, won the Asian Business Leader of the Year award for his outstanding contribution to the field of medicine.

P Hinduja, Co-Chairman of the Hinduja Group presented the award to Poonawalla and hailed his achievements.

Indian film and TV actor Irrfan Khan, the first Bollywood actor to star in two films that won the Academy Award for Best Director — 1 Millionaire (2008) and Life of Pi (2012) — was chosen for the Asian outstanding achievement in Cinema award.