Lahore [Pakistan], September 11 (ANI): Pakistan cricketers Mohammad Rizwan and Imam-ul-Haq were questioned by Pakistan’s National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in Lahore, accoridng to Cricinfo.
Notably, two cricketers were among seven players dropped from the squad in the middle of the ongoing Test series against England and sent home following Pakistan’s defeat in the second Test at Lord’s. They were subsequently summoned to appear before the NCCIA and attended the agency’s office on Thursday. At least one of the players is understood to have spent several hours there, as per the Cricinfo report.
It remains unclear what the questioning was related to or whether it is connected to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) own inquiry, which was announced earlier this week. The board did not identify any players at the time, saying only that it had "initiated an internal disciplinary inquiry following media reports concerning discipline and conduct, which are currently being reviewed internally".
According to the report, at least one of the players has been handed a questionnaire and is expected to complete and return it to the NCCIA next week.
Rizwan endured a disappointing run with the bat during the tour, managing scores of 12, 41, 7 and 1. His struggles were followed by similarly modest returns in the two Tests in the Caribbean.
Imam, meanwhile, was diagnosed with a Grade 1 tear in his left calf after the first day’s play at Lord’s and did not take the field during either of Pakistan’s innings. On the final morning, he attempted some light knockdowns during the pre-match warm-up but appeared to be struggling physically. Aaqib Javed, the PCB’s chief selector and director of high performance, publicly raised doubts over Imam’s injury and indicated that an inquiry could follow.
Notably, PCB released seven players from the Pakistan squad, including Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad after the 194-run loss at Lord's, which came after an innings and a 103-run defeat at Leeds in the series opener.
In their place, Pakistan brought in five uncapped players along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal. The five uncapped players added to the squad are Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Razaullah.
The PCB also sent head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul back home after the Lord’s defeat, and they roped in Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke, who are part of Pakistan's white-ball coaching set-up as head coach and bowling coach, respectively. (ANI)
Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq questioned by Pakistan’s National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency in Lahore
