The Pakistan government would confer honorary citizenship on former West Indian captain Darren Sammy for his role in bringing international cricket back to the country, the PCB announced on Saturday.
Sammy, who is presently leading Peshawar Zalmi in the fifth Pakistan Super League season, will be given the honorary citizenship and Pakistan’s highest civilian award, Nishan-e-Haider, on March 23 by President Arif Alvi.
Sammy, who has appeared in the PSL since its inception, played an important role in helping the PCB bring back international cricket to the country when in 2017 he agreed to come to Lahore and play in the PSL final after majority of the foreign players declined to play in the country due to security concerns.
He eventually captained Peshawar to the title in the second final in Lahore.
Javed Afridi, the owner of Peshawar Zalmi, said that they had requested the Pakistan President to grant honorary citizenship to Sammy because of his services to Pakistan cricket.
Sammy, who led West Indies to two World T20 Cup titles, remains a popular figure in Pakistan.
