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Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has expressed strong opposition to the idea of using pink balls in Test cricket as a solution to prevent bad light stoppages. Following the controversial end of day 2 in the Test match between Australia and Pakistan at the SCG, where players walked off due to darkness, Khawaja emphasized the distinct characteristics of the red ball in Test cricket.
Usman Khawaja, facing the suggestion of using a pink ball in darker conditions, stated on Fox Sports, “Pink ball is not the same as the red ball. No bowler and no batter will ever tell you that the pink ball is the same as the red ball. It is not, it’s a different beast in itself. The red ball reacts way differently off the wicket and feels different off the bat. It acts differently out of the hand.”
He strongly affirmed the importance of the red ball in Test cricket, declaring, “The red ball is Test cricket.” When asked about the possibility of playing all Test Cricket with a pink ball, Khawaja responded assertively, “If it is, I’m retiring.”
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Reflecting on the decision to call off play due to bad light, Khawaja acknowledged the darkness as a part of the game and highlighted the longstanding acceptance of offers to take light in the past. He noted that the laws governing such decisions hadn’t changed in a century.
“That’s just cricket. It’s been going on for 100 years. The Laws haven’t changed. Light is light. It’s a red ball. It’s still very hard to see the red ball. It’s still the same game,” Khawaja commented.
Khawaja recalled the early days of his cricket career when batsmen often accepted offers to take light, stating, “When I first started cricket, the batsmen used to get asked, ‘Do you want to take light?’ and we took it 100 percent of the time unless there was a result. So I reckon we were off a lot more in the past than we are now. Unless you can replicate the sun, I’m not sure what (the solution) is.”
-IANS
