Ram Mandir: Cricket legends Tendulkar, Kohli, chess GM Anand among sports icons attending consecration ceremony

MS Dhoni has been invited alongside fellow cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli for the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on Monday, 22 January. Dhananjay Singh, a senior member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was present at Dhoni’s residence at his hometown of Ranchi to hand over the invitation for the Chennai Super Kings captain. BJP organising secretary Karmaveer Singh was also present for Dhoni’s invitation. “We handed over the invitation card to him (Dhoni) on behalf of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22,” Singh told PTI on Monday, exactly a week before the consecration ceremony. “As many as 16 distinguished personalities including senior BJP leader and Padma Bhusan Karia Munda, Padma Shri Mukund Nayak, Padma Shri archer Deepika Kumari, AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto have been invited for the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya," he added.

Sachin, Dhoni, Kohli has been invited for Ram Temple Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya.

- Three ultimates of Indian cricket 🐐 pic.twitter.com/4PZLRQAfVE

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The trio, however, aren’t the only cricketers invited for the ceremony that takes place on 22 January. Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag and Indian cricket coach Rahul Dravid are on the list too. From women’s cricket, the iconic Mithali Raj’s name features in the guest list. From the current Indian cricket team, captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have been invited. Other sporting icons such as chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, sprint queen PT Usha and footballer Bhaichung Bhutia have also been invited for the consecration ceremony. Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari, footballer Kalyan Chaube, long-distance runner Kavita Raut Tungar and paralympic javelin thrower Devendra Jhanjadia have also received an invitation as have shuttlers Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu and her trainer Pullela Gopichand. Besides Tendulkar, Dhoni and Kohli, business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, celebrated actors such as Amitabh Bachchan and Maduri Dixit and former India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are some of the notable invitees to the ceremony that will be led by PM Narendra Modi. The 500+ state guest list, accessed by PTI, features a mix of politicians, actors, sports stars and industrialists. However, it is not clear how many of them will actually attend the opening of the 161-feet-tall pink sandstone shrine. With inputs from PTI