Red ball is Test cricket, would retire if pink balls become bad light solution: Usman Khawaja

After Day 2 of the third Test between Australia and Pakistan was halted due to bad light, former England skipper Michael Vaughan promoted the importance of pink-ball Tests to counter the problem. Australia opener Usman Khawaja, however, isn’t a big fan of the same. The southpaw mentioned that pink balls aren’t a solution to protect Test cricket from bad light and he would retire if it eventually happens.

The 37-year-old explained the importance of red balls in Test matches and added that sunlight plays a big part in deciding the matches. He added that people might have become a bit impatient but he doesn’t think that Test cricket has changed a lot in the last 100 years.

“If it is, I’m retiring. The red ball is so distinct. I’ve played white ball, I’ve played pink ball, I’ve played red ball. They all react so differently. Nothing reacts like that red ball. How they make it, the dye they put on it. The red ball is what we grew up playing with. The red ball is Test cricket, right? So unless you can find a way to replicate the sun, the lights aren’t the same,” Khawaja was quoted as saying by WA Today.

“The beauty of Test cricket and what I love about Test cricket is it really hasn’t changed a lot in the last 100 years. I think people maybe are just getting a little bit more impatient. It sucks, but that’s Test cricket, unfortunately. And when it rains or when you have bad light, you just have to cop it. You have five days of cricket to get a result. I still think there’ll be a result in this game,” Khawaja added.

Australia are trailing by 197 runs after Day 2 of the Sydney Test. Khawaja and David Warner gave the perfect start but neither of them could capitalize. Their partnership of 70 runs set the tone as Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne would aim to take the team to the next level on Day 3.