Pakistan test captain Misbah Ul Haq feels that the pink ball test cricket would be a fair competition between ball and bat as they are set to play their first ever day-night test match against West Indies.
The teams have been working hard to get used to the pink ball ahead of the match as they sweated out in nets to be able to deal with the changes that the ball might as the match goes on.
Misbah feels that the day-night tests are the future for the longest format of the game. “At the moment, it looks like [the future] keeping in mind the interest of the audience, who want to watch Test cricket,” Misbah said.
“After they [spectators] come from work, it’s a good opportunity and you will see it mostly in future. Let’s see how it goes with the pink ball, it’s an experiment. First the one-day came, then Twenty20 came, so [day-night Test] is a good step to keep the Tests alive.”
The 42-year old who has been leading Pakistan with inspiration feels that the only thing that will change is the timings of the matches and the pink ball could be the right solution to provide competition between the bat and ball as the batsmen have started dominating game in the recent decades.
“The only difference is the different timing [of the matches], just the visibility because it’s different for red ball and white ball,” he said.
“Maybe when the pink ball gets older, you have to look at it carefully as a batsman because it could be difficult at times [under lights]. You need to make a few adjustments here and there. Overall, it’s good playing under lights also. It’s not like it’s terribly difficult for the batsmen. It’s a fair competition between bat and ball.”
Asked about the grassy pitches that are needed for pink ball, he said: “Maybe the pink ball survives on grassy pitches but we also have to make sure that we survive as a team.
“You look at your strengths and I believe that it’s up to the team; the better team performs well in all conditions and that is the bottom line. I think if you are a good team, then you do well irrespective of the circumstances. Forget about the pink ball and lights, just go out and perform.”
Asked if staying in contention for top ranking by winning the series 3-0 their agenda, Misbah said: “That’s not important for us.
“The most important thing is to do well; we are more attentive to our performance in this series. You can’t take West Indies lightly because they are a young side and they have everything to prove and such a side is more motivated. We have done well in the last six years, did well on the England tour so the expectations are high.”