Ahmad Shahzad reacts after being found guilty of ball tampering 

The incident happened when Shahzad was leading Central Punjab against Sindh in a domestic game.

Ahmad Shahzad | Getty

Pakistan's Ahmad Shahzad was leading Central Punjab against Sindh in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy when his team was found guilty of ball tampering and the captain was fined 50 percent of his match fee. 

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday (November 1) confirmed Shahzad was found guilty of committing a Level 1 offence under Article 2.14, which relates to changing condition of the ball (non-identification) during a match.

The incident took place on Tuesday when during the 17th over of Sindh's first innings, on-field umpires Mohammad Asif and Zameer Ahmed found that the ball's condition had been unfairly changed by a member of the fielding side. 

Read Also: Pakistan's Ahmed Shehzad charged with ball-tampering during Quaid-e-Azam trophy match

As part of a review of what happened, Shahzad was forced to answer for the matter as the incident related to non-identification of the player and a Notice of Charge was issued to him under the PCB Code of Conduct.

"Ahmed pleaded not guilty to the charge, and, as such, a hearing took place after the match on Thursday, in which Ahmed was found guilty," said PCB in a media release.

It was brought to umpires' notice by Sindh captain Sarfaraz Ahmed himself that the ball had actually been tampered with quite a few times in the game from Central Punjab's side. 

It is feared the matter could give Australian media a chance to do negative talk around the national side when it visits the Aussie shores this month for three T20Is and two Tests. 

"We can agree to disagree in this incident as I maintain that the condition of the ball changed naturally due to the rough playing square and not artificially," Shahzad was quoted as saying. 

"I tried to convince the match officials, but they insisted and I accept and respect their decision."

"I would never indulge in such an act nor allow any of my team-mates to disrespect the game. My priority is to play hard, competitive and result-oriented cricket, and at the same time inspire the younger generation, which watches us play the game."

Meanwhile, in an altogether different matter, Pakistan's new Test skipper Azhar Ali was handed an official reprimand in the match for engaging in a Level 1 offence described in Article 2.9.

The level 1 offence deals with throwing a ball at or near a player, support personnel, umpire, match referee or any other third person in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during a match.

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 02 Nov, 2019

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