The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has suspended Fakhar Zaman for two Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches after the batter was found guilty of ball-tampering during Lahore Qalandars’ four-wicket defeat by Karachi Kings on Sunday.
The 35-year-old denied the charge and contested it at a disciplinary hearing, but match referee Roshan Mahanama upheld the offence and imposed the maximum sanction permitted.
The incident happened in the final over of Karachi’s run-chase when Fakhar, Lahore captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and fast bowler Haris Rauf were involved in a discussion, during which Fakhar and Rauf passed the ball between them.
“Fakhar Zaman has been suspended for two HBL PSL matches after he was found guilty of a Level III offence,” the PCB confirmed on Tuesday.
The ball was replaced – the new one was selected by the batting side – and Kings’ ask whittled down to nine runs from six deliveries.
Qalandars seamer Haris Rauf took a wicket with the next ball but then conceded a wide before back-to-back boundaries from Abbas Afridi saw Kings to victory in 19.3 overs.
Fakhar has played 215 times for Pakistan across the formats
Cricket’s Law 41.3.2 states that “it is an offence for any player to take any action which changes the condition of the ball”.
Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was angered by the ball change at the time, said at the post-match presentation: “We’ll see [what the umpires say]”.
Asked further about the incident, Shaheen said: “I don’t know about this. We will see if it is that in the camera. We will discuss.”
The PSL has faced scrutiny amid a series of disciplinary issues, including fast bowler Naseem Shah being fined 20 million Pakistani rupees (£54,000) for a social media post that appeared to criticise Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
Lahore also fined Afridi about PKR 1 million (£2,000) after police accused him of breaching security protocols at the team hotel, an incident that also involved Zimbabwe T20 captain Sikandar Raza.
