Central Punjab captain Ahmed Shehzad has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee, while his team-mate Azhar Ali and Sindh fast-bowler Sohail Khan have received official reprimands for violating PCB Code of Conduct during their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match, which ended in an exciting draw in Faisalabad.
Ahmed Shehzad 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. Ahmed Shehzad will lose half his match fee from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy’s drawn fixture between his side, Central Punjab, and Sindh earlier this week after his side was found guilty of ball-tampering. There is no evidence to suggest Shehzad was directly involved in changing the condition of the ball, but according to a PCB media release, the umpires found the condition of the “ball had been unfairly changed by a member of the fielding side”. Shehzad pleaded not guilty to the charge, and while he accepted the reprimand, he emphatically denied he had tampered with the ball.
According to the PCB, the incident occurred during the 17th over of Sindh’s first innings during a routine inspection of the ball. The on-field umpires, Mohammad Asif and Zameer Haider, later reported the incident to the match referee Nadeem Arshad, who believed Shehzad, as captain of the side accused, had a case to answer.
