Do we need to learn from Pakistan’s experiment with pink ball?
It’s not that the pitches are same in both India and Pakistan, rather they are more similar to India than Australia to some extent. In January 2016, Pakistan played the final of their premier first-class tournament Quaid-e-Azam with the pink ball, and the match featured the likes of Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali.
The fast bowlers notched 27 of the 34 wickets that fell, and no batsmen was able to make a hundred. They played with a Kookaburra ball, though it wasn’t the same type that was used in the Australia Test. Misbah-ul-Haq later revealed the dew conditions in Karachi made it “extremely difficult for batsmen”, especially once the lights were switched on. “The new pink ball was seaming a lot, the moisture on the pitch (due to heavy dew) made it tough for the batsmen. Even lining up for high catches for fielders was a challenge as the visibility of the ball wasn’t all that great,” Misbah further said.