Pink Ball vs Red Ball in Test Cricket: How is Pink Ball different?

India and Australia will lock horns in the second Test of the ongoing five-match Test series between the two teams at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide. The match is highly anticipated by cricket fans as it takes place day and night. Notably, a Day/Night Test is played with a pink ball rather than the usual red ball used in Test cricket, adding to the excitement of the game.

The pink ball is known to help bowlers much more than the red ball, especially during the night session under floodlights. Therefore, it is often a herculean task for the batters to chase away the bowlers under lights, which makes their stay at the batting area even worse. Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee also recently explained how a pink ball behaves differently than a red ball and calls it Rosé.

AUS vs IND 2nd Test Day 1 Live

The legendary fast bowler recalled how much he loved bowling with the white ball under lights and explained how the humidity at night makes the ball shape much better.

“It’s the pink ball test of what I like to call rosé. Not quite red, not quite white, pink in the middle. It definitely swings around a lot more, it shapes. The pink ball test takes place under lights. So when you play with the lights on, there’s generally a little more movement. It’s also cooler at night in terms of heat. Sometimes it can be a little wetter, which creates the spherical shape. I really enjoyed bowling with the white ball under lights. I have heard and heard that the pink ball is actually much better. So that would be a lot of fun for the fast bowlers,” Lee said on his YouTube channel.

Who is the best run-scorer for India against the pink ball?

Among Indian batters, Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer in the pink-ball Tests with 277 runs from five matches at an average of 46.16 with 150 to his name. Among the bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin is the most successful as he picked 18 wickets in five matches at an average of 13.83 and a best of 4/48.

For Australia, Marnus Labuschagne is the leading run-scorer in the day/night Tests with 894 runs from nine matches at an average of 63.85, with four hundreds and three fifties to his name. On the other hand, Mitchell Starc is the top wicket-taker with 67 scalps from 13 games with an average of 18.80 and three five-wicket hauls to his name.

With two heavyweight teams going head-to-head, the pink-ball Test promises to be a mouth-watering affair for the cricket fraternity.