Pink ball buzz revs up business in Jalandhar

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 22

It’s a hefty long-drawn process of about eight days which finally yields the shiny pink cricket ball, which is currently the centre of attraction of the cricket world. The ball made its debut in India in the India vs Bangladesh test match today.

Compared to the usual red ball, the pink ball takes four times the duration to be made (red ball takes two days) and has to be crafted with special imported leather.

A slight hike in the sale of these balls was last seen during the test match between Australia and New Zealand in 2015, after which the buzz quickly dropped. However, this year, the balls are getting unprecedented attention.

In Jalandhar, these much sought-after balls are being manufactured by around 10 industries. City-based manufacturers of pink balls have also started doing good business in the local market. The ball, which was exported to foreign countries only, is becoming popular among cricket players here.

The cost of one pink ball that has better visibility in night matches costs between Rs 250 and Rs 500 in wholesale and nearly Rs 2,000 and above in retail.

“Ever since the pink ball started making a buzz worldwide, cricket fans have been purchasing these balls to see for themselves how the ball functions in a pitch. More than 1,000 units of pink balls have been sold to various companies in just last seven days and several enquiries on its wholesale rate are being received everyday,” said Karan Karlupia who runs JTM Sports Factories.

He said they had been manufacturing both Kookaburra (machine-stitched) and SG (hand-stitched) pink balls from the past five or six years but this was the first time that the players were getting curious about the ball.

Raj Kumar, who has been exporting the balls overseas since 2013, said a large number of local brands had approached him recently.

The nature of the leather is the same but the layering of leather and pigmentation of pink balls sets them apart from other balls. The inner material of the ball includes cork, rubber and wool. The weight is kept between 156-163 gm so that it doesn’t bounce and the pace remains the same. “While the quality of the Kookaburra ball starts declining after six or seven overs, the SG standard ball can retain its quality up to 70-80 overs,” claimed Karan.

He worries that Kookaburra balls would eliminate the SG balls as there is a dearth of skilled labourers who stitch these balls flawlessly.