The 42 year-old was formally appointed by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in central London.
According to the website of Chance to Shine, Khan received the award 'in recognition of his service to cricket and the community'.
Wasim said that he was "genuinely shocked" yet "proud" at the appointment. "I was genuinely shocked when I received the news, but I immediately felt hugely proud to be recognised in this way. It’s a great honour and recognises the effort you’ve put in over a number of years.
"I feel a debt of gratitude to the many people who have helped me over the years and who believed in me. This award reflects the success of the Chance to Shine programme which is benefiting a great number of children."
Wasim's family, originally from Kashmir, migrated to England in the 1960s.
With a first-class debut for Warwickshire in 1995, Khan became the first British-born Pakistani to play cricket in England. His county stint ended in the early 2000s, with a batting average of a little over 30.
In 2005, Wasim was recruited by Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, to plan and implement Chance to Shine as Operations Director, before becoming Chief Executive in 2009.
Earlier this year, the charity celebrated the two millionth child to receive cricket opportunities through the Chance to Shine programme.
Wasim has an Executive MBA from Warwick Business School.
COMMENTS (7)
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@Moin, MA LLM:
You can live in your blissful ignorance, though I don't know why you brought Indians into the picture since they have nothing to do with this cricketer who has been awarded the MBE. Indians live in their own world -- they have set of values, ideals, success stories and, of course, also failures, but Indians don't blame others or seek scapegoats for their failures unlike Pakistanis who look for excuses by pointing their fingers at others and washing away their hands from any responsibility. Right after partition, many Indians thought that Pakistan was the creation of over-zealous politicians who had done this, in the name of religion, to further their personal gains and interests. But right now, Indians say that partition and the creation of Pakistan was the best thing that happened to them. We may have become friends if you were located in another continent or part of the world. Unfortunately, we cannot wish you away and, thus, must accept that we are stuck with you next door.
Yess We Can........Thanks Waseem...
@Moin - Ladies and gentlemen, if at all you wanted a lesson in the fine art of trolling please look no further than the post by Moin.
@Indian Trolls - please be wise enough to see past @Moin comment.
@wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
He also has never heard of you.
Never heard of this guy before.
Congrats Wasim. Thanks for making us proud.
This recognition of our talent by a Western, especially English, institution is great. We Pakistanis know truly where greatness lies. That is why, for example, we laugh at the Indians who try and develop their own curricula, satellites, and stuff. We simply follow A- and O- level type things, which makes us as great as Western whatnots. But then they're not Arab, so what can be expected of thems?