Sana Mir 'humbled and extremely grateful' to be awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz

KARACHI: Former captain of Pakistan women's cricket team, Sana Mir, expressed profound delight on being awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, the third-highest civilian award of the country.

Mir, who represented Pakistan in 120 ODIs and 106 T20Is during her glittering international career, was presented with the prestigious laurel by Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Faisal Karim Kundi on Wednesday.

Over the recognition, the spinner thanked the government of Pakistan by sharing an emotional post on her official social media handles.

"Humbled and extremely grateful to be awarded Sitara e Imtiaz by the Govt of Pakistan," Mir captioned the post.

"Delighted to have my *Family* with me; people who love, show up and support through the hardest times," she added.

Mir, who made her international debut for Pakistan in December 2005, went on to become an inspiring figure of the sport in the country.

During her illustrious career, she picked up 240 international wickets across white-ball formats besides scoring 2450 runs with the help of three half-centuries.

She was also the first Pakistani woman cricketer to top the ICC Women’s ODI Players Rankings, besides being the first Asian woman cricketer to play 100 T20Is, as well as the first Pakistani woman to complete the century of ODIs.

Sana Mir was also the first woman cricketer to be named the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Cricketer of the Year.

Mir was also one of the longest-reigning captains of the Pakistan women’s cricket team, leading the green shirts for eight years, which included two Asian Games gold medal triumphs in 2010 and 2014, respectively.

For her services for women's cricket in Pakistan, Mir was inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame last year, becoming the first woman cricketer from the country to be added to the prestigious list.

Overall, she was the eighth Pakistani cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, joining the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, Zaheer Abbas, Waqar Younis and Hanif Mohammad.

Mir also became only the 14th female cricketer in the world to be inducted into the elusive list.