Afridi says he was unaware of change in ball condition

Dubai: Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi said he was unaware of any change in the ball condition that resulted in a five-run penalty during their Pakistan Super League match against Karachi Kings at Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.

The incident took place just before the final over of the Kings’ innings, when on-field umpires inspected the ball and ruled that its condition had been altered. As a result, the fielding side was penalised five runs.

This decision reduced Karachi’s target from 14 runs to just nine in the last over. Abbas Afridi then sealed the game with back-to-back boundaries on the second and third deliveries, guiding the 2020 champions to a thrilling four-wicket win.

Shaheen said, “I don’t know about this [ball tampering], and we’ll discuss it. Five-run penalty … but we can’t say anything right now. We will see,” he said during the post-match presentation.

Looking back at his team’s performance, Shaheen felt their batting effort was reasonable, noting that Karachi struggled to chase the modest 129-run target.

“It was a good game. We wanted to fight till the last ball, and the team tried. Both teams had similar batting performances. I think our batting was fine; otherwise, Karachi would have chased this in 15 overs,” he added.

The result extended Karachi Kings’ head-to-head advantage over Lahore Qalandars to 15-8.

When asked if his side had a psychological hurdle against their rivals, Shaheen dismissed the idea, emphasising his team’s fighting spirit.

“There’s no mental block. My team fought till the last ball — that’s what I expect from them,” he said.

Lahore's all-rounder Sikandar Raza who didn't have a good outing on Sunday, said: "Umpires asked use to stay in our field positions so I think you will have to ask the umpires for further udpates.

"I can only speak for myself. There was never an attempt to change the condition of the ball, I was at long on and there was dew so the only requested not to shine the ball under the shirt. So I just followed that order and did it with the sleeve."