3 min readMar 27, 2026 11:45 AM IST
The opening match of the 2026 season of the Pakistan Super League featured a ball-change for a rather bizarre reason. The ball had visibly turned into a shade of pink by the end of the first six overs of the Hyderabad Kingsmen’s innings as they chased a target of 200 set by defending champions Lahore Qalandars. Interestingly, it was colour from their own pads that smeared the ball and made it difficult for the batters to see it, with Kingsmen captain Marnus Labuschagne flagging the issue as early as the second over itself.
“I did say to the umpires after the second over, ‘What’s going on? The ball is all red’,” Labuschange said after the game. “Obviously, it must be from the clothes or something like that. I have not seen anything like that [before], but I have seen the ball take colour from the paint of the pads or from something off the bat. I am sure we will sort it out before our next game on Sunday.”
Hyderabad Kingsmen kit’s color is coming off and turning the ball pink. pic.twitter.com/h9Ii3j0wxE
— Sheri. (@CallMeSheri1_) March 26, 2026
The Kingsmen were all out for 130, thus handing Lahore a 69-run win. After the conclusion of the match, Kingsmen congratulated Qalandars on X for “winning their first pink-ball game”.
The match was played in front of empty stands at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, with the 2026 season of the PSL itself set to be played behind closed doors due to the conflict in West Asia. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi had earlier said that the move was in line with the country looking to reduce internal movements due to the global oil crisis that has been triggered by the confict.
The Prime Minister requested all of Pakistan to restrict their movements because of the fuel crisis,” Naqvi said. “We closed schools and instituted work from home and increased the number of Eid holidays. We don’t know how long this war will last.
“Looking at all of this and after discussions with our security agencies, we decided that the PSL would continue as per the original schedule. But we can’t ask people to restrict their movements and then have 30,000 people in stadiums every day. We decided that as long as this crisis is ongoing, we will not have crowds at matches. This was a difficult decision, but it needed to be made. The opening ceremony will also be cancelled,” he had said.
