Umpires ruled that the Qalandars had altered the condition of the ball before the final over of the game.
Lahore Qalandars were handed a five-run penalty for ball-tampering during their Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 encounter against Karachi Kings. The penalty was imposed after the umpires ruled that the Qalandars had altered the condition of the ball before the final over of the game.
Kings needed 14 runs to win, with Haris Rauf delivering the last over for Qalandars. Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Fakhar Zaman were involved in a brief interaction at the bowler's run-up, during which each player handled the ball. Umpire Faisal Afridi noticed the exchange and called for the ball to be inspected.
Following a thorough examination and discussion between umpires Faisal Afridi and Sharfuddoula, the officials concluded that the Qalandars had deliberately changed the ball's condition. As a result, five penalty runs were awarded to Karachi Kings, and the ball was replaced immediately.
After the penalty, Karachi required just nine runs from the remaining six balls, ultimately securing victory with three deliveries to spare.
During the post-match interview, Qalandars captain Shaheen expressed uncertainty about the incident, saying, “I don't know about this and we'll see if it's there in the camera and discuss what it is.”
Under PSL regulations, umpires must report incidents like ball-tampering to the match referee for action, with potential penalties including multi-match suspensions.
David Warner, who was leading Karachi during the match, was deemed the "mastermind" of the ball-tampering scandal during the 2018 Cape Town Test against South Africa, receiving a 12-month ban from cricket and a lifetime leadership ban within Australian cricket.