LAHORE: Pakistan cricketers Mohammad Rizwan and Imam-ul-Haq appeared before the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in Lahore, taking the fallout from a disastrous England tour off the field, while the national side slumped towards a first-ever Test series whitewash in England after being bowled out for 133 in the first innings of the Birmingham Test.
According to sources, both players sought time from the NCCIA to respond to the notices served on them.
The NCCIA had earlier issued notices to Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan and a third player — who has not been named — to probe information obtained from the cricketers’ mobile phones.
Sources said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had retained the players’ phones and handed them over to the relevant institutions, after which the NCCIA summoned the cricketers. The agency will investigate the data recovered from the devices, the sources said.
Sports journalists covering the development reported that the two players remained at the agency’s Lahore office for around three hours, answered questions and asked for more time on some of them. They are expected to appear again, and the phones — now with the NCCIA — are to be examined.
The PCB has so far given no reason for retaining the players’ phones, and no allegation of wrongdoing has been made public against either player.
Pakistan lost the first two Tests of the ongoing series heavily. After the Lord’s Test, the PCB acted on an emergency basis and pulled seven players and two coaches out of the touring party. The players were Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad, while head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were also released.
Imam missed the Lord’s Test with an injury and Rizwan’s dismissal there drew comment from pundits, but neither the PCB nor the NCCIA has linked the inquiry to any on-field incident. The Lord’s match was also marked by reports that team management objected to a Sky Sports broadcast, during the first-day lunch break, of an interview with the sons of former prime minister and ex-captain Imran Khan; the interview was eventually aired after a delay and the match went ahead.
Inevitably, the involvement of a crime agency and the Lord’s setting have drawn comparisons in commentary with the 2010 spot-fixing scandal at the same venue, which ended the careers of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif and led to a ban for Mohammad Amir. There is, however, no indication at this stage that the current inquiry concerns match-fixing. Questions over Sarfaraz Ahmed’s exit have also surfaced, with a journalist claiming a selection dispute lay behind it, weeks after Sarfaraz said decisions on who stays would be taken after the series.
On the field, the third Test in Birmingham has followed a familiar pattern. England’s lower order scored freely — tail-enders struck half-centuries — on a pitch that looked flat whenever the hosts batted. Pakistan, batting on the first day, were dismissed for 133 in their first innings, and England’s batters then raced along at close to 11 runs an over before lunch on the second morning.
Facing a first-innings deficit of 320 runs after England’s reply, Pakistan lost two frontline batters for zero in the first over of their second innings. Saim Ayub, recalled specially for the Test from a franchise league in the West Indies, was out for a duck in both innings, and Abdullah Shafique also fell without scoring, with Ollie Robinson doing the damage.
Debutant fast bowler Razaullah provided a rare highlight, trapping England’s Joe Root lbw with the third ball of his first over at around 148kph and finishing with four wickets. He was, however, expensive, conceding runs at about 6.5 an over and being hit for sixes by the tail. Root, meanwhile, extended his record for the most catches by a fielder in Test cricket to 220.
Short of rain washing out the remaining days, Pakistan are on course for an innings defeat that would complete their first Test series whitewash in England.
Yousuf: ‘Learn Before It’s Too Late’
Former Pakistan batting great Mohammad Yousuf voiced concern over the technical flaws of the national batters. He said they kept shifting position before the ball arrived, which left them unable to judge its line and length.
“If batters keep opening their chest and moving back and forth before the ball is delivered, it becomes difficult to judge line and length correctly,” Yousuf said. “In such situations, they end up playing shots away from the body, which increases the chances of getting out.”
Summing up the day’s performance, Yousuf said only one thing could be said: “Learn, before it’s too late.”
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