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Pakistan National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has moved to the Lahore High Court to question the recently issued summons by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). Rizwan made his appearance in front of the agency to confront the investigation process.
The investigation process was initiated following a 3-0 defeat against the England cricket team in England. It is unclear why the NCCIA summoned Mohammad Rizwan and another Pakistan cricket player, Imam-ul-Haq, as part of the investigation process. While there was no public reaction from Haq, Rizwan, however, did not like the NCCIA summons and moved to the High Court.
Mohammad Rizwan raises questions on the investigation process
According to a latest media report, Imam-ul-Haq is understood to have submitted his responses through an intermediary before the September 15 deadline, but Mohammad Rizwan has raised questions about the nature of the investigation and the NCCIA's jurisdiction in his response.
According to a different report published by Cricinfo, both players, Rizwan and Haq, appeared at the agency's Lahore office last Thursday and were subsequently given multi-page questionnaires to complete and return, according to Cricinfo.
PCB reportedly took players' phones into its custody
Before their appearance at the NCCIA office, it was widely reported that the devices, including the mobile phones of some of the cricketers, were handed over by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). PCB was believed to have taken the phone in their custody as part of its internal investigation process. It is now unclear whether the NCCIA move was a part of the cricket board's investigation process.
Following two heavy defeats in Leeds and London, the Pakistan team management, in a massive shakeup, removed seven cricketers, including Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, and Salman Ali Agha, from the Test squad alongside their Test team's head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his assistant Umar Gul. Pakistani news outlets and several other international media outlets claimed that the exclusion from the Test side was beyond cricket.
Aaqib Javed was furious over Imam-ul-Haq
The Pakistan cricket board also mentioned that they were on the way to start an investigation process against some of their players. PCB's director of High Performance, Aaqib Javed, was particularly furious with the opener Imam-ul-Haq. It was alleged that the batter deliberately missed the Lord's Test match, citing a leg injury. Imam-ul-Haq sustained an injury on the first day of the Lord's Test match.
Later, he was spotted with the rest of the team at training. He looked fine on the training ground, as multiple former cricketers, including Stuart Broad, raised doubts about the seriousness of the injury, for which Imam-ul-Haq stayed away from the remainder of the match. Aaqib Javed stated that they would investigate whether Haq's injury was serious enough to miss the remainder of the match.
While there were some open comments on Imam-ul-Haq, so far, no comments against Mohammad Rizwan are available in the public domain. A few reports previously claimed that there were three players under the radar of the investigators. But the things look limited to only two cricketers, Rizwan and Haq.
