Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Thursday received the Sitar-e-Imtiaz from Punjab Governor Baligh Ur Rehman during a ceremony held at the Punjab Governor House as part of the Pakistan Day celebrations.
Babar, 28, became the youngest cricketer to be awarded with the country’s third-highest civilian award.
Taking to Twitter, the captain termed it an immense honour to receive the award. “This award is for my parents, fans and the people of Pakistan,” he wrote.
Previously, former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed held the record as the youngest cricketer to be awarded with Sitara-e-Imtiaz.
Champions Trophy 2017 winner captain Sarfaraz was conferred with the award by then Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair in 2018.
Babar Azam has also won multiple international awards including ICC Men’s ODI Player of the Year, Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy. Under his captaincy, Pakistan defeated India for the first time in a world cup match and also helped his side to reach the finals of the last T20 world cup.
Apart from Babar and Sarfaraz other cricketers including Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Yousuf, Saeed Ajmal, Inzamam ul Haq and Javed Miandad also received the awards in their careers.
