Fakhar Zaman charged with ball‑tampering by Pakistan board in PSL | Cricket News

Pakistan Super League has been jolted by the ball-tampering accusation against Zaman, which allegedly occurred on Sunday.

Lahore Qalandars batter ‌Fakhar Zaman has been charged with ball-tampering in ⁠Sunday’s Pakistan Super ⁠League (PSL) match against Karachi Kings, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.

The incident occurred in the ⁠final over, with Karachi needing 14 runs to win. Fakhar, Lahore captain Shaheen Afridi, and fast bowler Haris Rauf were ⁠involved in a brief discussion, during which Fakhar and Rauf passed the ball between them.

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The umpire then approached Rauf and asked to see the ball. Following consultations with the square-leg umpire, the ‌officials awarded five penalty runs to Karachi and ordered the ball to be changed.

The penalty proved costly, as Karachi went on to chase down a target of 129 with three balls to spare, and Abbas Afridi hitting a four and a six to seal a four-wicket victory.

“Fakhar denied the charge ⁠levelled against him during a disciplinary hearing ⁠led by the match referee Roshan Mahanama,” the PCB said.

“Another hearing is set to take place within the next 48 hours after which the match ⁠referee will share his verdict.”

Afridi said they would look at video footage of the incident.

“I ⁠don’t know about this, and we’ll ⁠see if it’s there in the camera and discuss it,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Fakhar, 35, could face a ban of one or two matches ‌if found guilty of ball tampering for a first offence in the PSL.

Australian trio David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft ‌were ‌handed lengthy bans by Cricket Australia following a 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.