This incident took place when Karachi needed 14 runs to secure victory. Lahore captain Shaheen Afridi and pacer Haris Rauf had a brief conversation, after which Fakhar and Rauf exchanged the ball between themselves.
An umpire then approached Rauf to inspect the ball, awarding five penalty runs to Karachi after consulting with the square leg umpire. The ball was also mandated to be changed immediately.
This penalty proved costly, as Karachi successfully chased down a target of 129 with three balls remaining, thanks to Abbas Afridi who hit a four and a six to clinch a four-wicket win.
“Fakhar denied the allegations brought against him during a disciplinary hearing conducted by match referee Roshan Mahanama,” stated the PCB.
“Another hearing is scheduled to occur within the next 48 hours, after which the match referee will announce his decision.”
Afridi mentioned that they would review video footage of the incident.
“I’m uncertain about this, and we’ll check if it’s captured on camera and discuss it,” he said during the post-match presentation.
If found guilty of ball tampering for a first offence in the PSL, Fakhar could face a ban ranging from one to two matches.
In a similar vein, Australian players David Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft received lengthy suspensions from Cricket Australia following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018.
(With Reuters inputs)
First Published: Mar 30, 2026 6:00 PM IST
