Kamal Ghorui
Pakistan’s opening stalwart Fakhar Zaman was handed a two-match ban on Tuesday after he was found guilty in the PSL ‘ball-tampering’ controversy that has rocked Pakistan cricket.“Fakhar Zaman has been suspended for two HBL PSL matches after he was found guilty of a Level 3 offence for breaching Article 2.14 of the applicable Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel during the Lahore Qalandars v Karachi Kings match on Sunday,” PSL said in a media release.“Match Referee Roshan Mahanama conducted the disciplinary hearing and made the determination after reviewing all evidence,” the statement added.The match, which the Kings sealed with three balls to spare, turned on a major flashpoint at the end of the 19th over of the second innings, with Karachi requiring 14 runs from the last over as Haris Rauf prepared to bowl for the Qalandars.Zaman was seen in discussion with Haris Rauf and Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi before the over. Shortly thereafter, umpire Faisal Afridi requested the ball. After a lengthy look and a detailed discussion between Afridi and square-leg umpire Sharfuddoula, the umpires ultimately appeared to decide Qalandars had deliberately altered the condition of the ball, and awarded five penalty runs to Kings. In addition, the ball was immediately changed.The umpires penalised Lahore Qalandars five runs for altering the condition of the ball and subsequently replaced it. This left Karachi Kings needing nine runs in the final over, which they successfully chased down.All-rounder Abbas Afridi sealed the victory by hitting Rauf for a four and a six after the bowler had delivered a wide.
