Australia wearing black armbands: The Australian players are seen donning black armbands over their jerseys in Rawalpindi today.
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During the first day of the first Test of the ongoing Australia’s tour of Pakistan in Rawalpindi, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has won the toss and chose to bat.
“The pitch looks nice so we’ll try to put runs on the board,” Azam told PTV at the toss. In what is a comparatively depleted Playing XI, the hosts are taking the field without the likes of Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf.
As far as their combination is concerned, Pakistan haven’t handed a debut to Mohammad Wasim Jr. Instead, batter Iftikhar Ahmed has been given a go in this format after more than two years.
Pakistan Playing 11 for Rawalpindi Test – 1) Abdullah Shafique 2) Imam-ul-Haq 3) Azhar Ali 4) Babar Azam (c) 5) Fawad Alam 6) Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 7) Iftikhar Ahmed 8) Nauman Ali 9) Sajid Khan 10) Naseem Shah 11) Shaheen Shah Afridi
Australia Playing 11 for Rawalpindi Test – 1) David Warner 2) Usman Khawaja 3) Marnus Labuschagne 4) Steven Smith 5) Travis Head 6) Cameron Green 7) Alex Carey (wk) 8) Pat Cummins (c) 9) Mitchell Starc 10) Nathan Lyon 11) Josh Hazlewood
Why are Australia wearing black armbands in PAK vs AUS 1st Test?
As fans must have noted by now, Australian cricketers are donning black armbands at the Pindi Cricket Stadium today. It is worth mentioning that the same has been done as a mark of respect and tribute towards former Australia wicket-keeper batter Rod Marsh.
Marsh, 74, died this morning after suffering a heart attack in Queensland last week. Marsh, who represented Australia in 188 matches across formats between 1970-1984, scored a total of 4,858 runs in 226 innings including three centuries and 20 half-centuries.
With 479 wicket-keeping dismissals to his name, Marsh was only behind Ian Healy (628) and Adam Gilchrist (903) among Australian wicket-keeper batters. Overall, Marsh is at the ninth spot in the list of most wicket-keeping dismissals across formats.
Sad to hear the news that Rod Marsh has passed. He was a legend of our great game & an inspiration to so many young boys & girls. Rod cared deeply about cricket & gave so much-especially to Australia & England players. Sending lots & lots of love to Ros & the family. RIP mate❤️
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 4, 2022
“Rod was a colossal figure in Australian cricket who gave close to 50 years of incredible service to Australian cricket, from his debut in the Ashes series of 1970-71, through to his time as National Selector, when many of the current group of Australian men’s players came into close contact with him,” Australia Test captain Pat Cummins said in a statement.
