RAWALPINDI, April 13: Pakistani, Indian players and umpires wore a red ribbon on their shirts on first day of deciding third cricket Test on Tuesday, symbolising cricket's commitment to raising awareness about HIV/Aids.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sent a personal message to players of two teams saying that Aids was a "common enemy that both Pakistan and India have to fight together". "As role models you can encourage young people to protect themselves from HIV and your leaders to pay more attention to the epidemic," Annan said in his message distributed to the media.

He said: "By the time this Test finishes on April 17, nearly 4,000 people will have been infected with HIV virus in South Asia. For every over you bowl today, people will have been infected with the virus."

"As cricketers, you can win hearts of your people," he said. "As role models you can encourage young people to protect themselves, and urge your leaders to pay more attention to the epidemic."

Annan told players that by wearing red ribbon, they had shown they cared deeply about Aids, about people living with HIV/Aids and had helped remove stigma and discrimination - a major obstacle in the fight against the epidemic.

"It is a very positive step that on this historic series players from Pakistan and India have united to raise awareness about Aids, an issue of severe global concern," said International Cricket Council (ICC) president Ehsan Mani. These awareness-raising activities are part of Run Out Aids campaign, launched by ICC and Unaids in September last year. -PPI