New Delhi: Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly and his deputy Rahul Dravid are among the five sportspersons selected for the Padma Shri award on the occasion of this year's Republic Day.

Ace long- jumper Anju Bobby George, who became the first Indian to win a medal in the World Athletic Championships in Paris last year, former hockey captain Dilip Tirkey and middle distance runner K M Beenamol are also selected for the honour, a Rashtrapati Bhavan release said tonight (Jan 25, 2004).

After getting praises from all around the world for their superb performance against the world champions Australia, whom they held to a 1-1 draw in the Test series, Ganguly and Dravid got another great reason to celebrate as they were selected for the country's fourth most prestigious award.

The honour comes as a recognition to both for making India a cricketing super power and comes at a time when both Ganguly, as captain, and Dravid, the leading run getter in Test series, are enjoying the best phases of their career.

The 30-year-old Ganguly also known as "Dada" or "Prince of Kolkata" led India into the World Cup final last year after a gap of 20 years before losing to Australia.

He took over the captaincy in February 2000 and along with coach John Wright of New Zealand is credited for moulding India into a top team full of promising youngsters. Dravid, "The Wall", won fame with his sound technical skills that was regarded as a dangerous customer once set. During the recent test series against Australia the 31 year-old produced his best form amassing 619 runs in four tests with an astonishing average of 128.30, which helped India to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

He was also named the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 2000.

Anju George became the toast of the nation last year in August when she won the bronze medal in the World Athletic Championships in Paris leaping to a distance of 6.70m in the final.

The 25-year-old Kerala girl also won the Arjuna award last year.

Tirkey led India to the silver medal at the Busan Asian Games 2002 and was also the captain when India won the gold at the inaugural Afro-Asian Games last year.

The 27-year-old, who won the Arjuna Award in 2002, has so far played 257 International matches.

Beenamol, who hails from a remote village in Idduki district of Kerala, was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for 2002 in recognition of her gold medal winning effort at the Busan Asian Games.