Lahore Qalandars batter Fakhar Zaman has been charged with ball-tampering during Sunday's Pakistan Super League (PSL) match against Karachi Kings, as stated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in an official release. The incident occurred in the final over, with Karachi requiring 14 runs to secure a win. Fakhar, along with Lahore captain Shaheen Afridi and fast bowler Haris Rauf, were involved in a brief discussion, during which Fakhar and Rauf exchanged the ball between them.

The umpire then approached Rauf and requested to inspect the ball. Following consultations with the square-leg umpire, the officials awarded five penalty runs to Karachi and ordered the ball to be replaced. This penalty proved decisive, as Karachi successfully chased down the target of 129 runs with three balls remaining, with Abbas Afridi sealing a four-wicket victory by hitting a four and a six.

The PCB noted, "Fakhar denied the charge leveled against him during a disciplinary hearing led by match referee Roshan Mahanama." Another hearing is scheduled to take place within the next 48 hours, after which the match referee will announce his verdict. Shaheen Afridi commented that they would review video footage of the incident, stating at the post-match presentation, "I don't know about this, and we'll see if it's there in the camera and discuss it."

Fakhar, aged 35, could face a ban of one or two matches if found guilty of ball-tampering for a first offence in the PSL. This incident echoes the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, where Australian trio David Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft received lengthy bans from Cricket Australia, highlighting the stringent disciplinary measures in international cricket.

Source: www.aljazeera.com