Shaheen Afridi with Fakhar Zaman during the ball-tampering incident.© X/Twitter
Veteran Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman has been banned for two Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 matches, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Tuesday, after a ball-tampering scandal rocked the T20 league. He was “found guilty of a Level 3 breach of the tournament’s Code of Conduct.” The charge relates to a violation of Article 2.14, which deals with altering the condition of the ball.
The incident occurred during Lahore Qalandars’ match against Karachi Kings at the Gaddafi Stadium on March 29.
The charge relates to an incident just before the final over of the Karachi Kings’ innings, when they needed 14 runs to win. Zaman was seen in discussion with Haris Rauf and Qalandars captain Shaheen Afridi before the over. Shortly thereafter, umpire Faisal Afridi requested the ball and, after inspecting it with his colleague, determined that its condition had been altered.
The umpires penalised Lahore Qalandars five runs for altering the condition of the ball and subsequently replaced it. This left Karachi Kings needing nine runs in the final over, which they successfully chased down. All-rounder Abbas Afridi sealed the victory by hitting Rauf for a four and a six after the bowler had delivered a wide.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, “A Level 3 offence carries a sanction ranging from a minimum one-match ban to a maximum of two matches, with Fakhar handed the upper limit of the penalty. He will now miss Lahore Qalandars’ upcoming fixtures against Multan Sultans on April 3 in Lahore and Islamabad United on April 9 in Karachi.”
Zaman was found to have violated Article 41.3 of the PSL playing conditions, which prohibits any action that alters the condition of the ball. However, he denied the charges against him.
A reliable PCB source told news agency PTI that senior officials have taken both the ball-tampering incident and the breach of security protocols at the team hotel seriously, and have made it clear to the Qalandars management that they will have to face consequences under the applicable Code of Conduct rules and regulations.
Topics mentioned in this article
Source link
[ad_3]
