Pakistan Super League franchise Lahore Qalandars have been accused of ball-tampering during the match against Karachi Kings on Sunday, with cricketer Fakhar Zaman being charged of the wrongdoing. “Fakhar denied the charge levelled against him during a disciplinary hearing led by the match referee Roshan Mahanama,” the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement. “Another hearing is set to take place within the next 48 hours, after which the match referee will share his verdict.” If found guilty, the minimum punishment for a Level 3 offence is a one-match ban.
The controversy in the country’s premier domestic T20 tournament erupted when fast bowler Haris Rauf was due to bowl the final over with the Karachi Kings needing 14 more runs for victory. Lahore captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, batter Zaman and Rauf were together at the bowler’s run-up with all three handling the ball at some stage during their discussions with each other, which are common in cricket at key stages of the match.
Umpire Faisal Afridi then called for the ball, inspected it and had a long discussion with the second on-field umpire, Sharfuddoula of Bangladesh. Both umpires decided that the ball had been deliberately altered and awarded five penalty runs to Karachi, which now needed nine runs off the last six balls. The umpires also changed the ball. Karachi batter Khushdil Shah holed out off the first ball of the last over, but Rauf followed it with a wide before Abbas Afridi smashed a four and a six to earn a four-wicket win for Karachi in 19.3 overs.
This is so Shameful
— Ehtisham Siddique (@iMShami_) March 29, 2026
The fallout from the incident has sparked intense debate regarding the consistency of on-field officiating and the use of technology in identifying ball-tampering. While the five-run penalty significantly altered the match’s momentum, a debate around the evidence being enough to issue a Level 3 charge against a single individual has been triggered.
Those supporting the Lahore Qalandars argue that the ball was handled by multiple players and officials throughout the innings, making it difficult to pinpoint a specific moment of alteration.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is expected to review the high-definition broadcast footage and the match referee’s report in detail during the next hearing to determine if the physical condition of the ball aligns with the umpires’ observations of deliberate tampering.
It also has to be noted that when the ball-tampering row struck the Australian cricket team, even high-profile players like David Warner and Steve Smith were handed lengthy bans. Could a similar action be taken against Fakhar, Shaheen and Haris, who all are in the center of the spotlight?
With AP Inputs
Topics mentioned in this article
