Playing in Pink jersey has become South African cricket team’s annual regular now. The Proteas team wears Pink Jerseys once in a year in a home ODI match. The supporters are also be encouraged to wear Pink outfits as well, which makes this occasion completely pinkish.
In the 2020 Pink game, the opponents England wore a limited edition of their own pink jersey to show their support.
On Pink day every year, the hashtag #PitchUpinPink & #PinkDay will make a huge trend among the social media.
Now, let’s get into the detail of the reason behind South Africa wearing the Pink jersey today.
Reason for South Africa wearing Pink Jersey in Cricket
The reason behind South African cricket team wearing pink jersey is for supporting and creating awareness on Breast Cancer, and collecting money for the people who are suffering from the disease.
On playing in Pink, AB De Villiers once said,
We realize the importance of highlighting awareness around breast cancer and for us to play in pink is our way of contributing to the campaign.
The Purpose of every year’s Pink Day is to collect money for the Breast Cancer Clinic at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. The goal is to raise more than R1 million‚ which will mostly come from the sale of bracelets designed by sun-glass enthusiast David Tlale.
The Wanderers ground in Johannesburg is the usual venue for this occasion every year.
South Africa in Pink Jersey Record
South African cricket team first wore the pink jersey in March 2013 in an ODI match against Pakistan at home. After that they decided to make it an occasion to have Pink Day once in a while, when they play ODI matches in home.
South Africa has so far played 8 matches wearing Pink Jerseys, until 2020, and they had won 6 and lost 2. They have lost the last two games played in Pink against Pakistan in 2020.
South Africa in Pink Jersey matches
| YEAR | OPPOSITION | RESULT |
|---|---|---|
| MARCH 2013 | PAKISTAN | SA WON |
| DECEMBER 2013 | INDIA | SA WON |
| JANUARY 2015 | WEST INDIES | SA WON |
| FEBRUARY 2016 | ENGLAND | SA WON |
| FEBRUARY 2017 | SRI LANKA | SA WON |
| FEBRUARY 2018 | INDIA | SA WON |
| JANUARY 2019 | PAKISTAN | PAK WON |
| FEBRUARY 2020 | ENGLAND | ENG WON |
AB De Villiers record in Pink Jersey
Ab De Villiers record in Pink jersey is exceptional as he scored the fastest century in ODI history 3 years ago against West Indies wearing pink jersey in Wanderers ground at Johannesburg. Here, you can find the top 10 fastest centuries scored in ODI cricket.
ABD, in pink jersey, has scored a total of 450 runs in 6 games at an average of 112.5, including 2 centuries and 2 half centuries. Check Ab De Villiers scores in 6 Pink Day matches he played so far,
| Month & Year | Against | Score (Balls) | Boundaries (Fours - Sixes) | Won by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2013 | Pakistan | 128 (108) | 12 - 3 | South Africa |
| December 2013 | India | 77 (47) | 6 - 4 | South Africa |
| January 2015 | West Indies | 149 (44) | 16 - 9 | South Africa |
| February 2016 | England | 36 (27) | 4 - 1 | South Africa |
| February 2017 | Sri Lanka | 60* (61) | 5 - 0 | South Africa |
| February 2018 | India | 26 (19) | 1 - 2 | South Africa |
AB de Villiers didn’t feature in the Pink Jersey games since 2019, as the former Proteas captain got retired from the International cricket.
