Sachin Tendulkar, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha last year, is the first sportsperson and the youngest recipient of the award.
Tendulkar, who retired from all forms of cricket last November, is the one most accomplished cricketers in the world, finishing his illustrious career with a fair clutch of records. He has 15,921 runs from a record 200 Test matches at an average of 53.58 and 51 centuries.
Tendulkar, 40, finished his ODI career last December just minutes before the team for Pakistan was announced. He has scored 18,426 runs from 463 ODIs with an average of 44.83 including 49 centuries. He was also the first to score a double hundred in the 50-over format
National Honours for Sachin Tendulkar :
1994 : Arjuna Award, in recognition of his outstanding achievement in sports.
1997-98 : Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest honour given for achievement in sports.
1999 : Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.
2008 : Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award.
2014 : Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.
