KARACHI: Rival captains Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan admitted on Saturday that the pink Kookaburra balls will determine future of cricket in Pakistan while observing that the day-night final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship would be a big test for the players involved.

Misbah, who is captain of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), told the pre-match briefing that the biggest drawback for the competing players is adjusting to the conditions.

“Obviously, there will be problems to start with. For some eyeing the pink-coloured ball will certainly a cause for concern. During the few hours of practice over the past two days, the behaviour [of the ball] of it was quite different under lights to what we have used to while playing with the red ones,” Misbah said.

“I think it would have been much better if the PCB had allocated at least two matches for all teams with pink balls under lights at the preliminary-round phase itself. That would have provided not only ample practice for the teams qualifying for the final but also given other teams invaluable practice.”

Misbah declared that day-night Test matches are the future of cricket and the PCB must act to ensure the players here get ample opportunities to play in different conditions.

“Of course, this will be the ultimate future course for the survival of Test cricket in some countries. Dwindling crowds at a number of Test venues will force the administrators to look for innovations to sustain the sport itself,” the seasoned Pakistan Test captain remarked.

Younis agreed with Misbah and pointed that the cricket board have to think accordingly when they plan for the next season and adapt to the new ideas.

“This is something new for Pakistan cricket. The success of the Test match in Adelaide proved an instant success but there are areas that need to be looked into. This is great entertainment for the enthusiasts of the game. Cricket needs crowd who need innovations to enjoy themselves,” former national team captain stressed.

“Coming itself to the final I believe it would be a great game with two best teams in the competition playing here. But since it is a day-night fixture with pink balls, the players will have to readjust themselves quickly to the conditions.

“The pink ball tends to move more than the red when the effect of light starts to take over. That period of play will be the most challenging for the batsmen who also have to get used to the glaring colour change as well.”

Misbah further said that the pink ball was difficult to sight at times. “The most difficult part I noticed during the practice sessions that it was hard to focus on the ball when high catches were hit. More often than not, it was hard to pick the flight [of the ball] when it was coming down.”

Younis, meanwhile, expressed the hope that fans would show up at the National Stadium to support both teams.

“It is an ideal setting for them. The game starts at 2:00pm and there is a lot of time left for the people to finish their work to enjoy cricket in the evening hours. Both these teams have enough stars to draw crowd to the ground to watch what should be one of the best matches staged in Karachi,” Younis quipped.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2016