Pakistan offers honorary citizenship to Darren Sammy

Published - 26 Apr 2016, 16:06 IST | Updated - 26 Apr 2016, 16:06 IST

2 Min Read

Pakistan and Darren Sammy seem to be having a very great bond. Recently, the West Indies T20 skipper was offered an honorary citizenship by Pakistan which Sammy gratefully accepted.

He played for the Peshawar Zalmi in the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League and made a lot of fans with his Pashto speaking skills. His franchise owner, Javed Afridi, also shared a great camaraderie with the West Indian. It was Afridi, who tweeted a request to Pakistan government to offer Sammy an Honorary Citizenship.

Will request Govt of Pakistan to offer Honorary Citizenship (Nationality) for @darrensammy88 ,with regards to his love for this Nation.
— Javed Afridi (@JAfridi10) April 25, 2016

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak in response to Javed’s request announced in a tweet that they are “honored” to offer honorary citizenship to Sammy. Whether the State Government can offer such citizenship or not, is still unknown.

https://twitter.com/Pervaiz_Khattak/status/724707250904928260

However, the gesture was acknowledged by Sammy, who recently led the West Indies team to a World T20 win. Interestingly, his tweet was in Pashto.

Khattab sb dera dera Manana ! Pa sar stargo ma qabool de https://t.co/ULWYKEQv2d
— Daren Sammy (@darrensammy88) April 25, 2016

Earlier, during the PSL, Sammy had called the Pashto language as a very sweet language. He also accepted that it was his team owner, Javed Afridi, who taught him a bit of Pashto. Also, when West Indies had won the World T20, Javed Afridi had announced an award of $20,000 for the West Indies captain for displaying excellent team spirit in the event.

I did #LearnPushto from @JAfridi10 , very sweet language now almost a Pakhtun Zalmi. Noray khabaray ba bya kao. Do Khoday Pa Amaan
— Daren Sammy (@darrensammy88) April 25, 2016

Darren Sammy, too, thanked his fans from Pakistan for the support they showed for the West Indies team throughout the World Cup. “I want to thank my Pakistani supporters for their support and will come to Peshawar soon,” he said. “God bless Javed Afridi,” he added.