Pakistan as a test side have peaked in the last few months. The test series against England away from home in alien conditions was an ultimate high, as the Misbah Ul Haq led side achieved greatness against a top class opponent. That series in England propelled Pakistan to the top of the ICC Test Rankings and in the days to follow, they will be up against West Indies in UAE.
An interesting factor for the upcoming test series between the two sides is that one of the games will be a pink ball affair under lights. Day and Night tests have evoked a mixed response from the stakeholders of the game so far, and the test in UAE could well provide detailed insights into the functioning. On the sidelines of a practice session, Misbah admitted that the Pakistanis were preparing themselves fully for the test.
“We will have six to seven days before the first Test, so we have to train maximum under lights with pink ball, and try to understand the conditions,” Misbah said. “We have to adjust to the timing of the sessions, understand how the ball will travel under lights, how much the ball will swing under lights, and how much the dew factor will be affecting it. If you see, the major chunk of the Test is in night, so it basically isn’t really a day-night Test. So we have to start working from scratch.”
Backing the concept of pink ball tests, Misbah called them as the “future of cricket”. “Future belongs to night Tests and this should be played frequently,” Misbah added. “It’s a good thing that PCB increased the number of day-night games in domestic cricket, and each team will be getting two games or so this season. If future is with day-night Tests, then we have to play it more often and we have to start embracing it quickly. Like we play one-day cricket with white ball, and this pattern had been adapted everywhere in domestic and even in club cricket.”
“Meanwhile, there are problems, whether it’s a pink or orange ball, for batsmen and fielders so far. These issues can only sorted by playing more cricket under lights with pink balls. Since the game is played for the fans and for the audience, this night cricket is the future and it’s definitely good for cricket. The more frequently we play under lights, it will give more exposure and allow players to get used to it,” the Pakistani skipper concluded.