The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi said on Wednesday that pink balls would be used in practice games ahead of the third season of the IPL that will start on March 12.
Modi, who is currently in Bangkok attending an IPL workshop, wrote on his Twitter: “IPL teams to test pink ball in their practice matches and sessions in partnership with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).”
Modi said that for the third edition four fielding substitutes instead of just the twelfth man will also be experimented. “Four fielding substitutes rather than 12th man,” Modi posted on his Twitter site.
The pink balls are being seen as a replacement for the white balls that are being used in day-night matches. The fluorescent ball can also be used in day-night Test matches if they are found durable.
The MCC, which is the custodian of the rules of the game, had suggested pink balls as an alternative to white balls that get discoloured quickly and are difficult to spot in day-night matches. But the suggestion was rejected by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). But the IPL has shown interest in trialling them.
MCC’s head of cricket John Stephenson had said that for day-night Test matches, pink balls are important.
“The IPL are quite interested in using pink balls and I am waiting to hear back from them. We will continue to use pink balls because we believe that they retain their colour longer than white balls. If we are going to play day-night Test cricket in the future, then we are going to have to find a solution,” John Stephenson, MCC head of cricket, was quoted as saying.
