Pakistan international Fakhar Zaman was banned for two matches on Tuesday after being found guilty of ball tampering in the country’s showpiece T20 league, cricket bosses said.
Video footage showed the 35-year-old opener changing the condition of the ball during his team Lahore Qalandars’ game against Karachi Kings in Lahore late Sunday.
“Zaman has been banned from playing in two Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches after being found guilty of a Level 3 offence due to ball tampering,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.
Zaman was charged over the offence by the Pakistan Cricket Board after denying ball tampering at a disciplinary hearing with match referee Roshan Mahanama of Sri Lanka.
Mahanama watched footage from the match on television that showed Qalandars’ players Zaman; their skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf, as well as umpire Faisal Afridi assessing what condition the ball was in.
Qalandars lost the match by four wickets, and the umpire had given five penalty runs against them.
Earlier, fast bowler Naseem Shah had been hit with the largest fine in Pakistan cricket history for insulting a politician on social media.
Shah’s staggering punishment of $71,500 is the latest controversy to shake the PSL during a tumultuous first week.
Fellow paceman Shaheen was also hit with a A$3.5 thousand ($ $2,500) fine for breaching the tournament’s strict security protocols.
The PSL is being played behind closed doors, with no fans in attendance — and at just two venues rather than six, thanks to concerns about fuel supplies as a result of the Iran war.
After last Thursday’s opening match of the Pakistan Super League between Qalandars and Hyderabad Kingsmen, Naseem, who plays for Rawalpindi, sent a barb in the direction of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who was guest of honour at a reduced PSL opening ceremony.
In a post on X, which was quickly deleted after being shared widely, Naseem taunted Nawaz’s arrival: “Why is she received like the Queen at Lord’s?
He subsequently claimed his account had been hacked however the PCB did not accept this and summoned him to appear before a three-member disciplinary committee.
Naseem previously apologised before the committee handed down the mammoth fine.
Afridi was also fined by the Qalandars for violating security protocols at his team hotel in Lahore, one of this year’s two host cities alongside Karachi.
Punjab Police also stated that Afridi sought permission to take visitors to his fellow cricketer at the room of teammate Sikander Raza but was not granted, yet he did anyway.