Reporting snapshot · 18 September 2026. Rizwan's approach to the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit was reported on 18 September on the basis of unnamed sources and has not been confirmed by the ICC, the Pakistan Cricket Board or the NCCIA. No agency has announced a finding against any player, and the inquiry is ongoing.
What happened
Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan has sought guidance from the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) over the seizure of his mobile phone during an inquiry by Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), sources told Geo News on 18 September 2026.
According to the sources, Rizwan submitted an online request through the ICC ACU’s portal asking whether the anti-corruption authorities of the ICC or the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were aware of, or involved in, the action taken against him. He is reported to have asked whether requesting the phone in England, transferring it to Pakistan and conducting a forensic examination were consistent with the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, and to have sought clarification on his responsibilities in any future cooperation with anti-corruption authorities. The sources said the request was not intended as a complaint against any individual or organisation, but a bid to clarify the process followed in his case.
The move came days after the Lahore High Court dismissed his petition challenging the NCCIA’s notices, and it is the latest turn in a dispute that has placed Pakistan’s federal cyber-crime agency and cricket’s global anti-corruption framework on opposite sides of the same case.
The court ruling Rizwan is now working around
The Lahore High Court on 17 September refused to hear a petition in which Rizwan challenged the NCCIA inquiry, which its notice states concerns online betting and gambling in Pakistan cricket. Chief Justice Aalia Neelum told Rizwan’s lawyer, Qazi Umair Ali, to “just go and respond to the notice”, directing the player to engage with the agency rather than seek the court’s intervention at that stage.
In the petition, Rizwan argued the notice was vague, was issued without legal jurisdiction, and did not identify any specific allegation or explain what illegal activity he was allegedly involved in. He said investigators did not answer his repeated questions about the basis of the inquiry during his appearance before them. His counsel argued that corruption-related allegations against cricketers should be handled by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit, and that no matter concerning Rizwan had been referred there. The court was not persuaded and dismissed the petition.
Rizwan’s written response to the NCCIA, filed separately, repeated the jurisdictional argument and questioned why his mobile phone had not been returned. He has denied wrongdoing, saying he served Pakistan cricket to the best of his ability as a cricketer.
What the NCCIA inquiry involves
Rizwan and Test opener Imam-ul-Haq appeared before the NCCIA at its office in Lahore’s Johar Town on 10 September and were questioned for about two hours. The inquiry was reported to relate to alleged leaks of information from the Pakistan dressing room during the Test series against England, and to have expanded to examine alleged associations with online betting and gambling networks.
Sources cited by Geo News have said the agency has been conducting forensic and technical analysis of the players’ mobile phones and examining financial dealings and suspected transactions, including bank accounts and transactions before and after the England series. The phones were taken into custody by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) security officials after the team’s 194-run defeat in the second Test at Lord’s and later handed to the authorities, according to the reports. Rizwan’s lawyer has said the phone was taken in a hotel lobby after the Lord’s Test, with an assurance it would be returned within three hours that was not honoured. The NCCIA has not officially announced any final finding against either player.
The England tour backdrop
The inquiry follows a calamitous tour in which England won the three-Test series 3-0 — by an innings and 103 runs at Headingley, by 194 runs at Lord’s and by eight wickets at Edgbaston. After going 2-0 down, the PCB released seven players, including Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha and Khurram Shahzad, and removed head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul, with Mike Hesson taking over the Test side.
The board then launched an internal “discipline and conduct” inquiry into the tour, announced on 7 September, in which no players were named. It also sought written explanations from its selection committee over the inclusion of Rizwan and Imam in the Test squads for the 2026 tours of the West Indies and England. These overlapping processes — a board inquiry, a federal criminal-style investigation and now an international anti-corruption query — have unfolded with little public coordination.
Why the jurisdictional question matters
The central issue raised by Rizwan’s legal team is which authority should investigate an allegation of corruption against an active international cricketer. His argument is that the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, and the ACU that administers it, is the appropriate forum, and that no referral has been made to it. The NCCIA, an agency under Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, contends through its notice that an inquiry into online betting and gambling is under way.
The consequence is a player caught between a domestic investigation with access to his device and an international sporting framework that has not formally entered the matter. The dispute has no direct cost to the public purse and is not evidence of wrongdoing by any player; no finding has been announced, and the allegations remain unproven. For Pakistan cricket, however, it adds another layer to a governance crisis that began with the mid-series overhaul and has now drawn in the courts, the cyber-crime agency and the sport’s global regulator.
What is still uncertain
Several elements remain unresolved. Rizwan’s approach to the ICC ACU is based on unnamed sources and has not been confirmed by the ICC, the PCB or the NCCIA. The precise scope of the NCCIA inquiry — the betting allegations, the dressing-room leak reports, or both — has not been publicly defined. It is unclear whether the ICC will respond to Rizwan’s request, whether any of the agencies will coordinate, and whether the PCB will take any disciplinary action once the NCCIA completes its work. The phone’s return, the inquiry’s timeline and any eventual findings all remain open questions.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published reporting, not eyewitness or agency-confirmed material. Sources were reviewed on 18 September 2026.
- Geo News — Mohammad Rizwan contacts ICC Anti-Corruption Unit over NCCIA inquiry: report18 September 2026 · The day-of development: the ACU portal request, the questions about the phone seizure and the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, and the note that it was not framed as a complaint.
- Geo News — 'Go there and respond to notice': LHC turns down Rizwan's plea against NCCIA17 September 2026 · The High Court dismissal, the hotel-lobby seizure account, the three-hour return promise, and the ICC ACU jurisdictional argument.
- The News International — Rizwan moves LHC against NCCIA summons over online betting, gambling investigation17 September 2026 · The petition's claims, the 10 September appearance with Imam-ul-Haq, the forensic analysis, and the PCB selection-committee notice of 31 August.
- The Express Tribune — LHC refuses to hear Rizwan's plea against NCCIA proceedings17 September 2026 · The court's refusal, the "nothing to hide" remark by counsel, and the details of the phone seizure after the Lord's Test.
- The Guardian — Pakistan launch player conduct investigation during dysfunctional England tour7 September 2026 · The PCB's internal "discipline and conduct" inquiry, the phone-data capture after the Lord's defeat, and the seven-player recall.
- BBC Sport — England survive scare to sweep Pakistan series12 September 2026 · Confirmation of the 3-0 Test series result and the mid-tour squad and coaching changes.
