Sammy to be given honourary citizenship of Pak on March 23

Lahore, Feb 22 (IANS) West Indies' all-rounder Darren Sammy will be given Pakistan's highest civil award -- Nishan-e-Pakistan -- and honourary citizenship of Pakistan by President Arif Alvi on March 23, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Saturday.In a tweet, the PCB's media department announced that citizenship will be conferred on Sammy for his "invaluable contribution to cricket in Pakistan"."President of Pakistan Arif Alvi will confer the highest civilian award and honourary citizenship to Darren Sammy on 23 March for his invaluable contribution to cricket in Pakistan," read the tweet. Sammy is currently leading Peshwar Zalmi in the ongoing edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).This comes after Zalmi owner Javed Afridi was recently quoted as saying by The Dawn that the franchise had put in a request to the president to grant the Zalmi skipper honorary citizenship of Pakistan and requested PCB chairman Ehsan Mani to pursue it personally so that the application is approved.
--IANS aak/bbh