The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : No rosy picture, this

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No rosy picture, this

Bangalore: The Karnataka State Cricket Association's initiative to use the pink ball in the forthcoming Mantri Karnataka Premier League commencing here on September 16, has run into rough weather.

In a press conference here on Monday, Joseph Hoover, CEO of Belagavi Panthers, one among the eight participating teams and last year's runner-up, raised his squad's concerns about the rationale behind unveiling the pink ball in the Twenty20 tournament's second edition.

Hoover said that the decision was thrust down upon the franchises.

“The KPL was launched with the idea of promoting moffusil cricket but the focus has shifted, the latest being the pink ball issue.

Belagavi Panthers has always opposed this move but no one is listening. “A few other team owners are equally apprehensive but they are not voicing their concerns. The pink ball gets discoloured easily, is very hard, can cause severe injuries, bounces more and scoring boundaries is difficult and that goes against the idea of T20,” Hoover said.

Hoover questioned the motive behind the use of pink balls. “When the pink ball experiment has been given up in Australia, England and West Indies, why is the KSCA hell-bent on getting the tag of being pioneers of using it in India? Recently two players Sudhir Rao and Rajshekar Shanbal were injured. Even our seamer R. Vinay Kumar said that it was difficult to sight the ball (in his follow-through). Now if some key players get injured ahead of the Ranji season, how will the KSCA cope? To make it worse, our team as well as Mangalore United have red jerseys and other teams will find it difficult to sight the ball against us,” Hoover said.

As an extreme measure, Hoover even cited the possibility of his team walking out of the tournament. “We might even opt out if the KSCA refuses to listen to us. We even told the officials that maybe you can use pink for day matches and then opt for white balls for night games but they did not agree. All we are asking is that let us continue with the white ball in this tournament and may be next season if the pink ball evolves well, then maybe we can look into it,” Hoover said.

Panel discussion

Meanwhile, a panel discussion on the Mantri Karnataka Premier League here on Monday saw the idea of a wider pool of State players gaining exposure and the improvement of infrastructure in rural areas figuring prominently.

The KSCA office bearers, led by vice-president Ashok Anand and a few captains like Sunil Joshi, discussed the tournament's prospects as the second edition is all set to start on Thursday.

Sudhindra Shinde, captain of Bijapur Bulls, made a plea for having contracts especially for rural cricketers as it will ensure that they have a regular income.

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