Pakistan’s cricketers have set aside their famous green for one day. For today’s ODI tri-series fixture against England at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, the hosts are playing in pink — the centrepiece of a breast cancer awareness campaign the Pakistan Cricket Board is running through October, in partnership with Pink Ribbon Pakistan.
The idea is simple: put the cause where the cameras already are. Pink stumps are in use, the big screens and boundary boards carry awareness messages, and commentators are highlighting the campaign through the broadcast. England’s players, the match officials and commentators have been invited to wear pink ribbons in support of patients and survivors.
There is a fundraising side too. The board is auctioning signed fan shirts carrying the signatures of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam, with the proceeds going toward treatment for breast cancer patients who cannot afford it. The campaign’s message, repeated across the board’s channels, is early detection and timely treatment — a medical point made through a sporting occasion, aimed at an audience far larger than any clinic leaflet could reach.
On the cricket itself, Pakistan came into the match unbeaten in the tri-series after two straight wins, and won the toss and chose to bowl first. Two changes were made to the side: Shadab Khan came in for Faheem Ashraf, and Razaullah was handed an ODI debut in place of the injured Naseem Shah. Pakistan face Sri Lanka next on Tuesday, with the final scheduled for Saturday 31 October, also in Lahore.
