Mohammad Rizwan approaches ICC over mobile phone seizure after Pakistan High Court dismisses plea amid NCCIA probe

Mohammad Rizwan approaches ICC over mobile phone seizure after Pakistan High Court dismisses plea amid NCCIA probe originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Mohammad Rizwan has approached the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit seeking clarity after the NCCIA seized his phone during a betting probe.

The Lahore High Court dismissed his petition against the agency's notices, directing him to respond to the NCCIA instead.

The investigation ties into allegations of online betting and possible information leaks from Pakistan's dressing room during the England Test series.

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Mohammad Rizwan approaches ICC ACU over mobile phone seizure by NCCIA following Lahore High Court's petition dismissal - Details

Mohammad Rizwan's headaches since Pakistan's tour of England just won't quit, and the wicketkeeper-batter has now turned to the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit, hoping for some clarity on why his mobile phone was seized by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency in the first place in London.

This comes barely days after the Lahore High Court threw out his petition against the agency's notices, leaving him no closer to getting his device back or understanding exactly what procedure was followed.

Sources cited by Geo News say Rizwan filed an online request through the ICC's ACU portal, asking whether the ICC or the England and Wales Cricket Board had any knowledge of, or hand in, the action taken against him. The report mentions that the enquiry wasn't framed as a complaint against anyone in particular and it reads more like a cricketer trying to make sense of a confusing process.

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He's reportedly asked whether requesting his phone, shipping it from England to Pakistan, and running a forensic check on it is actually in line with the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. Beyond that, Rizwan wants guidance on what's expected of him going forward.

MORE: Mohammad Rizwan investigation: Pakistan star submits response to Cyber Crime Investigation Agency over online betting and gambling allegation

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Lahore High Court dismisses Rizwan's petition against NCCIA

The Lahore High Court dismissed Rizwan's petition challenging the notices served on him by the NCCIA. During Thursday's hearing, his lawyer, Qazi Umair Ali, told Chief Justice Aalia Neelum that Rizwan had been summoned to a hotel lobby right after the Lord's Test and grilled without ever being formally served a notice.

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His legal team says Rizwan handed over his phone on the understanding it would come back within three hours and that hasn't happened. Ali also pushed back on the NCCIA's authority to even handle the case, arguing that any alleged corruption-related matter involving a cricketer should fall under the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit instead.

The court wasn't convinced, though, and told Rizwan to go ahead and respond to the NCCIA's notice before tossing out his plea.

The notice itself reportedly stems from a wider inquiry into online betting and gambling within Pakistan cricket. There's also been talk linking the investigation to alleged leaks from inside the Pakistan dressing room during the Test series against England.

Rizwan, along with fellow batter Imam-ul-Haq, showed up before the agency in Lahore earlier this month as part of the process. So far, though, no official findings have been made public against either player.

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MORE: Rizwan opens up on being probed by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency after England series

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Rizwan's move to the ICC makes sense, but questions remain

Rizwan has taken the right steps by approaching the ICC's anti-corruption body. It isn't an admission of guilt, but it's a fairly sensible step for someone stuck in procedural limbo.

If a national agency can grab a cricketer's phone in a hotel lobby without serving notice first, and then hang onto it well past a promised return time, it's reasonable for the player to ask whether that even follows the sport's own rulebook.

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The jurisdictional tussle here is the real story, though. Pakistan's domestic agencies and the ICC's anti-corruption framework clearly aren't talking to each other, and Rizwan's stuck in the middle of that gap.

That said, none of this should be read as proof of wrongdoing on his part. No findings have been announced, and the investigation itself is still unfolding. What it does highlight, though, is how messy things get when local law enforcement and international sporting bodies both claim a stake in the same case. And it's the player, not the institutions, who are left carrying the uncertainty.

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