Fakhar Zaman has denied a charge of ball-tampering after his Pakistan Super League side Lahore Qalandars were handed a five-run penalty during a defeat to Karachi Kings.
Fakhar – who could face a one or two-match ban if found guilty of the offence – was deemed by the umpires of “unfairly changing the condition of the ball”.
The alleged tampering took place ahead of the final over, with Karachi needing 14 runs to overhaul Lahore’s total of 128-9.
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.
Match referee Roshan Mahanama will conduct a hearing in the next few days.
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.”
