Jamshedpur, September 24, 2007 – Jhakhand govt. has announced that it shall confer an honor of  “Jharkhand Ratna” on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian Cricket Captain, for making the state proud by successfully leading the cricket team to the Twenty20 World Cup final.

"Dhoni will be the first recipient of the award, the highest award in the state," Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister Sudhir Mahto said.

The award is being introduced for the first time and will be presented to Dhoni on the 7th foundation day celebration of the state on November 15 at Ranchi.

Appreciating the performance of the team under his captaincy, Mahto said Dhoni had made the country proud.

"Dhoni has proved his mettle particularly after defeating three time world cup winners Australia in the semi-final," he said.

Mahto said 26-year-old skipper would tackle the tense moments during the final match against Pakistan today.

"The wicketkeeper-batsman has the capability to extract the best from his teammates," he said.

Mahto also lauded Yuvraj Singh, S Sreesanth, R P Singh and Rohit Sharma for their excellent performances in the Twenty20 World Cup, as per PTI.