Padma Bhushan Award 1980

1980 is the most unusual year on this list: only a single Padma Bhushan was awarded, to cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, recognizing his record-breaking batting achievements including surpassing Don Bradman's career century tally. No other individual, Indian or foreign, received the honor that year, and there was no posthumous award. This makes 1980 statistically the smallest Padma Bhushan cohort in the award's history, standing in sharp contrast to the double-digit recipient lists typical of neighboring years like 1981 and 1982.

The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service of a high order, without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex".