IND vs PAK 2022: Why are Pakistan players wearing black armbands today?

The Babar Azam-led side sported black armbands during their opening fixture of the Asia Cup 2022 against India on Sunday (August 28) to show solidarity for the flood victims in Pakistan.

Hundreds of people have been killed or injured due to the floods in the country. The National Disaster Management Authority confirmed earlier today that the number of casualties from the monsoon rains has reached 1,033.

A total of 119 fatalities have been reported in the last 24 hours. As per recent reports from the Pakistani media, around 33 million people have been affected due to heavy rainfall in the country. 72 districts have been declared calamity-hit.

Notably, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that the gate proceeds from the team's T20I series opener against England will be donated to the PM's Flood Relief Fund. The match is scheduled to be played at the National Stadium in Karachi on September 20.

PCB posted on Twitter:

"PCB to donate gate earnings from 20 Sep T20I in Karachi vs England to the PM’s Flood Relief Fund 2022."

Meanwhile, India won the toss and elected to field first against their arch-rivals at the Dubai International Stadium. Pakistan captain Babar Azam stated at the toss that they would also have liked to bowl first on the surface.

He said:

"We would have also been bowling first, but this is not in our hands. We will look to make a big score and see. Three fast bowlers, two spinners and a debut for Naseem Shah. There are a few new faces, and some old faces in that Indian team. We are trying to give it our best."

The two sides have played fourteen matches against each other in the Asia Cup. While India have emerged victorious on eight occasions, the Men in Green have five wins to their name.

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India vs Pakistan playing XIs

IND: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

PAK: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani