Rizwan approaches ICC Anti-Corruption Unit over phone seizure in England

Mohammad Rizwan has filed an online request through the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit portal, asking whether the ICC or the England and Wales Cricket Board had any knowledge of, or involvement in, the seizure of his mobile phone by Pakistan's National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency during the tour of England.

According to sources cited by Geo News, the enquiry was not framed as a formal complaint against any individual or body. The development comes shortly after the Lahore High Court dismissed Rizwan's petition challenging the notices served on him by the NCCIA, leaving him without his device and without a clear explanation of the procedure followed against him.

Rizwan has specifically asked whether requesting his phone in England, transporting it to Pakistan and conducting a forensic examination on it is consistent with the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He has also sought guidance on what is expected of him going forward.

What happened to Rizwan's phone during the England tour?

Rizwan's lawyer, Qazi Umair Ali, told Chief Justice Aalia Neelum of the Lahore High Court during Thursday's hearing that Rizwan was summoned to a hotel lobby immediately after the Lord's Test and questioned without ever being formally served a notice beforehand.

His legal team stated that Rizwan handed over his phone on the understanding it would be returned within three hours. That has not happened. Ali also challenged the NCCIA's authority to handle the matter at all, arguing that any corruption-related case involving a cricketer should fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit rather than a domestic agency.

The court was not persuaded by these arguments and directed Rizwan to respond to the NCCIA's notice before dismissing his petition. The notice itself reportedly stems from a wider inquiry into online betting and gambling within Pakistan cricket, with reports also linking the investigation to alleged information leaks from inside the Pakistan dressing room during the Test series against England.

Rizwan appeared before the agency in Lahore earlier this month alongside fellow batter Imam-ul-Haq as part of the ongoing process. No official findings have been made public against either player.

What does Rizwan's ICC approach mean for the investigation?

Rizwan's decision to contact the ICC's anti-corruption body is not an admission of wrongdoing. It reflects the position of a player seeking procedural clarity after being caught between a domestic agency and an international sporting framework that do not appear to be coordinating with each other.

The central concern raised by his legal team is a jurisdictional one. Pakistan's domestic law enforcement and the ICC's anti-corruption framework are operating on the same case without apparent communication, and Rizwan remains in the middle of that gap without his phone or a clear timeline for its return.