The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Monday that Lahore Qalandars batter Fakhar Zaman had been hit with a Level 3 offence for ‘fiddling with the ball’ during Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 match against Karachi Kings at Gaddafi Stadium – and it’s a scandal that’s got everyone talking. The ball tampering shenanigans that unfolded on the pitch left a bad taste in the mouth, especially after the umpires brought out a fresh ball for the final over and dished out five penalty runs to Karachi, too. The on-field umpires, with some time to mull it over and a chat with Lahore skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, eventually decided that the ball’s condition had been fiddled with & they popped up a penalty.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was pretty miffed at their call though. As it turned out, that penalty call ended up being crucial, transforming Karachi’s target from 14 to 9 in that final over – so they managed to scrape over the line with 3 balls to spare. The PCB has since confirmed that they had a disciplinary hearing following the game, and the verdict was clear – Fakhar had indeed played with the ball.
But Fakhar has been having none of it – he’s pretty much flat out denied all the allegations & another hearing is scheduled to take place over the next 48 hours
The PCB put out a statement saying that Fakhar has been charged with a Level 3 Offence under the rules for ‘taking any action that basically ruins the ball’ as per Article 2.14 of the Code of Conduct for Players & Support Staff. He broke the rules by tampering with the ball – which, in HBL PSL 11 playing conditions, is a pretty clear no-no.
Fakhar denied the charge during the hearing led by the Match Referee Roshan Mahanama & now another hearing is set to take place within 48 hours. The Match Referee will then have to make a final call on the whole thing. The scandel all went down in the second innings of the match.
When did this all kick off ?
Fakhar was caught on camera messing with the ball – it happened just before Haris Rauf bowled the first ball in the final over. Fakhar had just handed the ball to Haris, when umpire Faisal Afridi piped up and asked for a closer look at things. The umpires then confirmed that the Qalandars had done something to the ball deliberately , dishing out 5 runs to the Karachi Kings as a penalty afterwards. After the game, Shaheen was asked to comment on the whole thing, but basically just said that he and his team would look at the video footage to determine if Fakhar had indeed fiddled with the ball.
