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

Fakhar Zaman charged with ball‑tampering by Pakistan board in PSLPakistan 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.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Football: CAF general secretary quits amid AFCON final controversylist 2 of 4Aprilia’s Bezzecchi wins USA MotoGP to extend perfect start to seasonlist 3 of 4Israeli footballer’s role in assault on southern Lebanon sparks outragelist 4 of 4Olympic gender test ‘a disrespect for women’, South Africa’s Semenya saysend of listThe 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.Zaman plays a shot for his Lahore Qalandars side during a Pakistan Super League T20 match against Hyderabad Kingsmen at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, on March 26, 2026 [Arif Ali/AFP]