PSL 2026 – Hyderabad Kingsmen’s maroon kit forces ball change against Lahore Qalandars

Kingsmen wore a maroon kit, and the colour rubbed off on the white kookaburra ball. The maroon tinge on the ball was visible to the naked eye from the media box as early as the end of the powerplay. Kingsmen captain Marnus Labuschagne, though, had already raised the matter with the umpires by the second over.

“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.”

Labuschagne confirmed that the umpires had not objected to Kingsmen continuing with their kit in the tournament.

Qalandars’ Haris Rauf said the ball could have picked up the colour from the seats in the stands. But the seats at Gaddafi Stadium are green and white. Rauf said he would have had the ball changed had he batted that night.

“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.”

After the conclusion of the match, Kingsmen congratulated Qalandars on X for “winning their first pink-ball game”.

Kingsmen suffered a comprehensive 69-run loss on what was their PSL debut.

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