More SHAME for Pakistan cricket as ‘Pink Ball’ controversy grips opener, Hyderabad Kingsmen captain Marnus Labuschagne says…

PSL 2026 faced major embarassment as the white ball turned ‘pink’ in colour in the opening match between Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have been humiliated on multiple fronts in the lead up to the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 season. The PCB have been forced to organize the PSL 2026 in only 2 venues – Lahore and Karachi – due to the Israel-Iran War as well as their own border tension in Afghanistan and these games are also being held in empty stadium without any crowd.

To add to this embarrassment, the opening PSL 2026 fixture between champions Lahore Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen witnessed a major controversy. Kingsmen skipper Marnus Labuschagne revealed his displeasure at the fact that the ball needed to changed in the middle of their game against the Qalandars as the white ball turned ‘pink’ after being rubbed on their jersey.

The Kinsgmen team were trying to routinely shine the ball on their flannels which were maroon in colour but the ball turned pink in colour instead. Australian batter Labuschagne lodged a formal complaint with the umpire after he saw maroon dye from his own team’s official kit was bleeding onto the white leather ball.

Speaking after the match, Labuschagne said he had never seen anything like it before in professional cricket. “I did say to the umpires after the second over, ‘What’s going on? The ball is red.’ It must be from the clothes or something like that. I haven’t seen anything like this before,” Labuschagne told reporters at the post-match press conference.

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Marnus Labuschagne cooked Pakistan over ball getting pink:
“I’ve never seen anything like that. I am experiencing new things in Pakistan.
I did say to the umpires after the second over, What’s going on? The ball is red, it must be from the clothes or something like that.” pic.twitter.com/Lr836Y6RXX
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) March 26, 2026

“I’ve seen occasions where something on a bat comes onto the ball, or when it hits the pad and takes a bit of paint off. But I’ve never seen this happen with clothing. I’m sure they’ll sort it out in the next few games,” he added.

Following the Lahore Qalandars’ victory, the Hyderabad Kingsmen took to X to offer a witty acknowledgement of the day’s mishap. The franchise congratulated their opponents on winning what they jokingly dubbed the first ‘pink-ball game’ in PSL.

“Congratulations to the opposition on winning their first pink-ball game,” the franchise’s official account posted.

Congratulations to the opposition on winning their first pink-ball game.
— Hyderabad Kingsmen (@HHKingsmen) March 26, 2026

The Pink-ball controversy soon went viral on social media as fans started trolling Pakistan Cricket board for the gaffe. “For the sake of God, make new branded kits, Indians are now making fun of us… The owner bought the team on 180++ crore but failed to make branded kits,” a fan shared on X.

Meanwhile, the Kingsmen were hammered by 69 runs on their PSL debut by the Qalandars. Chasing 200 to win, Kingsmen were bowled out for only 130 with Labuschagne top-scoring with 26 off 22 balls. Ubaid Shah, Haris Rauf and Sikandar Raza claimed a couple of wickets each for the Qalandars.

Earlier, the PSL defending champions posted an impressive 199 for 6 after batting first with Fakhar Zaman top-scoring with 53 off 39 balls and wicketkeeper Haseebullah Khan hammering unbeaten 40 off 28 balls.

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The Times Of Bengal