Central Punjab found guilty of ball tampering, Ahmed Shehzad fined.

LAHORE -- Ahmed Shehzad will lose half his match fee from the Quaid-e-Azam trophy's 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 Ahmed, later reported the incident to the match referee Nadeem Arshad, who believed Shehzad, as captain of the side accused, had a case to answer. "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," the PCB release stated. "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," Shehzad said after the verdict. "I tried to convince the match officials, but they insisted and...