Lahore, March 31 Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman was suspended for two matches of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Tuesday for violating the code of conduct related to altering the condition of the ball.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that the match referee found Fakhar guilty of a level three offence, violating Article 2.14 of the applicable Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel during the PSL match between Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings on Sunday.
The suspected ball-tampering incident occurred just before the start of the final over, when the on-field umpires penalized Lahore Qalandars for five runs, and the ball was changed before the start of Karachi Kings' batting innings.
The charge was leveled by on-field umpires Shahid Saikat and Faisal Khan Aafreedi, TV umpire Asif Yaqoob, and fourth umpire Tariq Rasheed.
Fakhar denied the offence and contested the charge at a full disciplinary hearing in accordance with the Code of Conduct.
Match Referee Roshan Mahanama conducted the disciplinary hearing and made the determination after reviewing all evidence and providing Fakhar with an opportunity for a personal hearing.
Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi, team director Sameen Rana, and team manager Farooq Anwar were also present during the hearing.
Lahore Qalandars are next scheduled to face Multan Sultans on April 3 at the Gaddafi Stadium and Islamabad United on April 9 at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi.
Meanwhile, the Lahore Qalandars management has fined captain Shaheen Shah Afridi one million rupees for breaching the PSL security protocol at the team hotel in Lahore.
On Monday, the PCB's disciplinary committee fined fast bowler Naseem Shah 20 million rupees for a controversial tweet which breached the conditions of his central contract with the Board.