Windies cricketer Daren Sammy receives Pakistan's third-highest civilian award - here's why

File image (Source: Twitter)

West Indies captain Daren Sammy has been bestowed with the Sitara-I-Pakistan, country's third-highest civilian award, for his part in bringing back international cricket to Pakistan. Sammy received the award on Monday and tweeted photographs of the ceremony on his official social media accounts. The announcement was first made on May 23.

Sammy, one of the very few foreign cricketers who played in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the country's T20 League, braved threats to his life and security as he played cricket in Pakistan, which had not had many foreign teams visiting it after the Sri Lanka cricket team was attacked in 2009. Though Sri Lanka and Australia teams are among the prominent teams that have visited the country this year.

Sammy, who is a two-time T20 World Cup winner with the West Indies national team, decided to play in the PSL in 2016 and represented Peshawar Zalmi till 2020.

"There it is (emoticon finger pointing down), me collecting the Sitara-I-Pakistan award. Such a proud moment," Sammy tweeted on Monday with a picture of him receiving the award.

There it is me collecting the
Sitara-I-Pakistan award . Such a proud moment https://t.co/Dv82dZ9fMC pic.twitter.com/W9FZjBQxaF

— Daren Sammy (@darensammy88) May 30, 2022

"CONGRATULATIONS Brother @darensammy88! Well Deserved Sitara-i-Pakistan! Your Contribution for Pakistan Cricket Revival will be written in Golden Words & in our Hearts Forever," tweeted Javed Afridi, chairman of Peshawar Zalmi, the PSL franchise that Sammy represented.

CONGRATULATIONS Brother @darensammy88 ! Well Deserved Sitara-i-Pakistan !
Your Contribution for Pakistan Cricket Revival will be  in Golden Words & in our Hearts Forever. #PakistanZindabad https://t.co/i5PoPHhiOO pic.twitter.com/TH6Caygl9Y — Javed Afridi (@JAfridi10) May 30, 2022

Sammy has represented West Indies in all three formats of the game, scoring 1,323 runs and taking 84 wickets in 30 Tests, hitting a century and five half-centuries. In 126 ODIs, the 38-year-old Sammy has scored 1871 runs and claimed 81 wickets.

He made his Test and ODI debut for the national team in 2004 and last represented West Indies in 2017 in a T20 match against Pakistan in September 2017.