Pakistan Super League: Hyderabad Kingsmen’s maroon kit forces unusual ball change

LAHORE: In what was one of the most unusual ball changes in a long while, the Hyderabad Kingsmen’s kit left the white ball smeared with colour from the pads, changing the ball’s colour from white to maroon-ish during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) opener against Lahore Qalandars.

On Thursday, Kingsmen, wearing maroon colours, were chasing 100 runs against Lahore. During the 15th over, the ball changed as it was left smeared with the colour from their pads, and it became difficult for the batters to judge the delivery well. The matter was raised by Kingsmen skipper and Australian star Marnus Labuschagne in the second over, and the maroon-ish tinge of the ball was visible to the personnel sitting in the press box at the end of the powerplay.

Peak Pakistan Super League standards

During the very first match of PSL 11, the ball literally turned pink every time Hyderabad Kingsmen players rubbed it on their kit.

Did they get knockoff kits instead of authentic ones?

International league or gully-level experiment? pic.twitter.com/Beq5zhmSkb

— Brutal Truth (@sarkarstix) March 26, 2026

Despite all that, the chase continued for a long while, and it was only in the 15th over that the ball was changed. “I did say to the umpires after the second over, ‘What’s going on? The ball is all red’,” Labuschange said after the game as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

“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,” he added.

The Kingsmen skipper also confirmed that the umpires had no objection to the team using the same kit for the rest of the tournament. As per ESPNCricinfo, LQ pacer Haris Rauf said that the ball might have picked up the colour from the seats in the stands, which had a green and white colour scheme.

Speaking after the game, Rauf said, ” I am not certain who got the ball changed,” Rauf said. “We cannot ascertain whether it was because of the kit. It may well have been because of the seats, as the ball flew out of the ground quite a few times. As long as the batters continued to see the ball clearly, they batted. They may have changed it when it got difficult to pick. Had I gone to the crease to bat, I would have had it changed first ball,” he added.

After the conclusion of the match, Kingsmen congratulated their opponents for “winning their first pink-ball game”. LQ opted to bat first and knocks from Fakhar Zaman (53 in 39 balls, with 10 fours), Haseebullah Khan (40 in 28 balls, with three fours and a six) and Sikandar Raza (24 in 10 balls, with two fours and two sixes) took the team to 199/6 in 20 overs. Hassan Khan (2/30) and Riley Meredith (2/39) were the pick of the bowlers for Kingsmen.

In the chase, Kingsmen were skittled out for 130 in 20 overs, with their skipper Labuschagne top-scoring with a 22-ball 26. Rauf (2/22), Raza (2/27), Mustafizur Rahman (1/19) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (1/28) were the top bowlers. (ANI)