Ball Tampering saga: PCB CEO Wasim Khan TKOs Sarfaraz again

Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmad has since long been at loggerheads with the new Pakistan Cricket Board administration that has cost him his captaincy as well as place in the team.

Especially, there were reports about a heated exchange of words between former captain and PCB’s CEO Wasim Khan before Sarfaraz announced resigned as captain.

It all happened when Quetta Gladiators have claimed that Peshawar Zalmi’s Wahab Riaz tampered the ball in Saturday’s match which they lost by six wickets at the National Stadium Karachi.

Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmad confirmed in the press conference that he had written about the ball tampering allegations in his report to match referee.

The PCB took its sweet time before issuing a statement on the issue and technically knocked out Sarfaraz and Quetta Gladiators instead of seriously looking into the issue to avoid more controversy in future.

It seems PCB CEO not ready to let it easy on former captain as he, without taking his name, said players should remain cautious while giving statements.

According to Sarfaraz, the team complained to the match officials that the ball was allegedly tampered by Wahab during their innings. The Gladiators added that due to the incident they could not hand a competitive total to Zalmi. The left-arm quickie had taken two wickets for 21 runs in the fourth match of the Pakistan Super League’s fourth match.

He also went on to say that they were all here to play competitive cricket there were no favours and friendship on the field and it was their right to lodge the complaint.

However on Monday the Pakistan Cricket Board issued a statement contradicting Sarfaraz account and said match referee Roshan Mahanama has not received an official complaint from Quetta Gladiators against Peshawar Zalmi for changing the condition of the ball during their February 22 fixture.

As per article 3.2, clause 3.2.2 of the HBL PSL 2020 Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, official complaint has to be filed by the team manager and submitted to the match referee within 48 hours from the end of the match. However, no complaint has been filed and the 48-hour window is now closed.

PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said: “We are aware that a statement on changing the condition of the ball has been made without providing any concrete evidence or lodging a formal complaint through the correctly stated procedure. In this case, this should have been submitted to the match referee by 6pm on Monday, 24 February. Such irresponsible statements without formal follow-up will only effect the integrity of the event and cast doubts on international cricketers, and, as such, I request the players to use caution and show responsibility.

 “We have an excellent panel of umpires who, as per the playing conditions, are carrying out due diligence during matches. If they will spot any artificial or unnatural interference with the ball, they will act as per the Code. “I request all participants to uphold the spirt of the game and to focus solely on cricket. This is the first complete HBL PSL 2020 taking place in Pakistan and like every Pakistan cricket fan, we wish this to be a memorable 32 days for all the right reasons.”

The Match Referee for the game was Sri Lanka’s Roshan Mahanama, while the on-field umpires were Richard Illingworth and Faisal Afridi.