The white Kookaburra ball had visibly turned a shade of pink by the end of the first six overs of Hyderabad Kingsmen’s innings in the opening match of the 2026 PSL.
The opening match of the 2026 season of the Pakistan Super League featured a ball-change for a rather bizarre reason. The ball had visibly turned into a shade of pink by the end of the first six overs of the Hyderabad Kingsmen’s innings as they chased a target of 200 set by defending champions Lahore Qalandars. Interestingly, it was colour from their own pads that smeared the ball and made it difficult for the batters to see it, with Kingsmen captain Marnus Labuschagne flagging the issue as early as the second over itself.
“I did say to the umpires after the second over, ‘What’s going on? The ball is all red’,” Labuschange said after the game. “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.”