Fakhar Zaman was charged for ball tampering.
Lahore Qalandars batter Fakhar Zaman has been suspended for two matches in PSL 2026. During the fixture against Karachi Kings, Fakhar was reported for ball tampering in the final over of the innings, where the umpires had to intervene.
After noticing Fakhar’s antics, the on-field umpires requested the ball and determined that its condition had been altered after checking with the second on-field umpire. They handed a five-run penalty and changed the ball before the last over began.
Initially, he denied the charges against him and opted to challenge the allegations, which led to a full disciplinary hearing conducted by match referee Roshan Mahanama. Roshan reviewed the evidence and heard Fakhar Zaman’s final submission in the presence of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, team director Sameen Rana and manager Farooq Anwar.
He was found guilty of Level 3 breach of the tournament’s Code of Conduct, as confirmed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The charge relates to a violation of Article 2.14, which deals with altering the condition of the ball, something the player was charged for by the on-field umpires, Shahid Saikat and Faisal Khan Aafreedi, along with TV umpire Asif Yaqoob and fourth umpire Tariq Rasheed.
A Level 3 offence carries a sanction ranging from a minimum one-match ban to a maximum of two matches, and Fakhar Zaman has been handed the upper limit of the penalty. Under the PSL code of conduct, Fakhar Zaman has the right to appeal against the match referee’s written verdict to the tournament’s Technical Committee within 48 hours.
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However, he’s unlikely to claim the appeal and will face a two-match ban in PSL 2026. Hence, Zaman will miss the next two games against Multan Sultans on April 3 and Islamabad United on April 9 in Karachi.
In Fakhar Zaman’s absence, Lahore Qalandars will likely include Tayyab Tahir in the XI for their next game. For the unversed, Shaheen Shah Afridi distanced himself from involvement, while the premium all-rounder, Sikandar Raza, also denied being aware of the incident.
Lahore Qalandars went on to lose the contest by four wickets, as Haris Rauf failed to defend 14 runs in the final set. They have played two games in PSL 2026 so far, winning and losing one each, and currently sit second on the points table with two points and the best net run rate (+1.567).
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