Darren Sammy, the former West Indies captain, will be receiving an honorary citizenship from Pakistan. Additionally, the country will bestow upon him the Nishan-e-Pakistan. This is the country’s highest civilian award. Sammy played a major role in bringing top-flight cricket to Pakistan. To acknowledge his contribution, the country decided to present him with these prestigious awards as a sign of appreciation. The ceremony is due for March 23rd at Islamabad.
Darren Sammy contributed significantly to Pakistan cricket
The significant support Sammy showed to Pakistan cricket earned him great admiration from the fans as well. He was the first player who agreed to tour Pakistan when the PCB proposed to bring the PSL finals to their country.
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The owner of Peshawar Zalmi, Arif Alvi, presented this idea to the Pakistan Cricket Board. Sammy has represented Peshawar Zalmi at the Pakistan Super League since 2016. The Board took the matter ahead to the federal government. Finally, the Pakistan president, Arif Alvi, gave his approval as well.
President of Pakistan Dr @ArifAlvi will confer the highest civilian award and honourary citizenship to Darren Sammy on 23 March for his invaluable contribution to cricket in Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/mn9AiLknB0
— PCB Media (@TheRealPCBMedia) February 22, 2020
Darren Sammy took over Peshawar Zalmi’s leadership from 2017 from Shahid Afridi. That was the same year the team secured the title. The following two years they have been the losing finalists.
Apart from agreeing to tour Pakistan for the PSL finals, Sammy even briefed other players before the ICC World XI 2017. He spoke to the tourists prior to the three T20Is lines up about his security experience in the country.
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Sammy opens up about his experience
During his briefing, he said that the security team of Pakistan is one of the best. “I did brief them quickly about my experience in Lahore for the PSL final. We’ve had the best security team, who have also briefed them.”
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He added that the fans of cricket in Pakistan are just as passionate about the game as fans globally. Therefore, when they get the opportunity to watch their icons and role models play live, they become extremely happy. Furthermore, he said that playing in Pakistan feels just like playing at St. Lucia.
That is what it felt like. That is what I briefed the players when the coach [Andy Flower] asked me about my experience.”
