Rizwan to face NCCIA on 2 October, asks: is it betting or PECA fraud?

Updated Thursday 1 October 2026, 7pm PKT. Mohammad Rizwan has confirmed he will appear before the NCCIA on Friday 2 October, but in his third letter to the agency he says he has "still not been told what exactly I am accused of", The News reported on Thursday. The letter points to what he calls a changing explanation: the first notice referred to online betting and gambling, while the agency's later court filings spoke of electronic fraud under PECA. "Is the inquiry still related to online betting or gambling?" he asks.

Rizwan also wants to know whether the PCB or the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit has been told about the probe, and says he was given no seizure memo or custody record for the phone taken from him in England on 31 August, even though it was examined in his presence after he gave the password. He has asked for it back pending the forensic report, while pledging to keep cooperating with any lawful inquiry. ARY News reported that in an earlier written reply he denied wrongdoing and argued that only the ICC's anti-corruption unit can investigate players.

What happens on Friday

• Rizwan appears before investigators; nothing in the letters suggests he will skip it.
• No charge has been framed and no finding announced. He denies wrongdoing.
• The open questions are the same three: which allegation (betting or PECA fraud), whether the PCB and ICC know, and when the phone is returned.

We will add what comes out of the appearance to this page on Friday.

Earlier, Wednesday 30 September: Mohammad Rizwan has been told to appear before the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Friday 2 October, ESPNcricinfo reported on Wednesday. The agency has written to him asking for his cooperation, mainly over the mobile phone taken from him in London on 31 August.

According to Cricinfo, the inquiry concerns a possible breach of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA), but the specific charge, if any, is still not known. Rizwan intends to appear as instructed, and will write to the agency again before Friday asking it to spell out any charge against him. That follows his legal letter of Tuesday, which asked for the phone back and for the incident under investigation to be named.

What 2 October means

• It is an appearance, not a charge. No charge has been framed against Rizwan and no finding has been announced. He denies wrongdoing.
• The court route is closed for now. The Lahore High Court dismissed his petition against the NCCIA's jurisdiction on 18 September and told him to respond to the agency's notices.
• The phone is still the issue. The agency wants the device examined; Rizwan wants it returned and the scope of the probe stated first.

Pakistan, led by Sahibzada Farhan, have since beaten Bangladesh and play India in the Asian Games final on Saturday at 10am PKT; fixtures are on our Asian Games cricket schedule.

Earlier, Tuesday 29 September: Mohammad Rizwan has written to the NCCIA asking for his mobile phone back and for the agency to name the specific incident it is investigating and tell him the dates of the inquiry, ESPNcricinfo reported on Tuesday. His phone was taken on 31 August, after Pakistan's 194-run defeat to England at Lord's, and he says he was told then that it would be returned within three hours.

The letter turns the dispute around. Over the weekend the agency's position, as reported by ARY News and 24 News, was that Rizwan should unlock the phone himself so investigators could examine it without wiping data. Rizwan's position is now that the device should be returned and the scope of the probe spelled out first. The Lahore High Court, when it dismissed his petition against the inquiry, told the agency not to subject him to "harassment or unnecessary inconvenience" and left it open to him to seek the return of the phone, according to the IANS summary of the Cricinfo report. The News International has reported that the investigation is looking at bank accounts and suspected transactions of both players during the England Test series.

Imam-ul-Haq, the other player named in the probe, has answered the agency's questionnaire and is cooperating. No finding has been announced against either player, no charge has been framed, and Rizwan denies wrongdoing.

Earlier, Sunday 27 September: The NCCIA has contacted Mohammad Rizwan several times asking him to unlock his mobile phone for a deeper forensic examination, and expects to contact him again on Monday 28 September, ARY News and 24 News reported, citing agency sources. If he does not cooperate, a written notice is expected to follow.

The sticking point is the phone itself. According to ARY, the device has an anti-theft lock and facial recognition turned on, and investigators say forcing it open with forensic tools could delete data, so they want Rizwan to disable the locks himself. 24 News reported that both players had earlier answered questions on around 70 matters, and that the agency says Rizwan has not fully cooperated.

Imam-ul-Haq is now cooperating, both outlets said, and the forensic analysis of his phone has begun in his presence. 24 News added that the ICC has not contacted the NCCIA about the case.

Nothing has changed on the legal position: the Lahore High Court told Rizwan to join the inquiry and barred the agency from harassing him, no finding has been announced against either player, and no charge has been framed. Rizwan denies the allegations.

What this means for Pakistan's schedule

Pakistan's next men's series at home are the T20Is against Sri Lanka from 9 October and the ODIs against England from 20 October. Dates, venues and results: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2026 and Pakistan vs England 2026. Today's fixtures and live scores are in our match centre.

Earlier: the court ruling and the ICC complaint (18 September)

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Aalia Neelum has dismissed Mohammad Rizwan's petition against the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, and told the batter to respond to the agency's notices rather than have them set aside.

Rizwan filed the writ petition on Wednesday through his lawyers. It argued that the NCCIA had no jurisdiction over him, because allegations of corruption involving a cricketer belong with the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit. The court dismissed it after a short hearing on Thursday without going into detailed reasoning.

What the agency is looking at

The NCCIA is investigating alleged online betting and gambling around Pakistan cricket, including whether information was leaked from the Pakistan dressing room during the Test series in England.

No finding has been announced against Rizwan. No charge has been framed. His lawyer, Qazi Umair Ali, has said any corruption matter involving a cricketer should sit with the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit instead, and Rizwan has called the allegations misconceived, concocted, illusionary and vague.

The phone

The part of this that has travelled furthest on Pakistani timelines is how the phone was taken.

According to the petition, Rizwan was called down to a hotel lobby at 1am in London, straight after Pakistan's defeat at Lord's, and handed over his mobile on the understanding that it would come back within three hours. His lawyers say it has not been returned since.

That is the point he has now put to the ICC. Rizwan has gone through the ACU's online portal to ask whether the ICC or the England and Wales Cricket Board had any role in the seizure, and whether what was done to him followed the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. The code sets out how a player's devices may be requested and handled in an investigation, which is the standard he is asking to be measured against.

He is not the only one

Imam-ul-Haq has also appeared before the NCCIA. He answered questionnaires rather than going to court, which is the route Rizwan has now been directed towards. No official findings have been announced against either player.

Separately, the PCB opened an internal disciplinary review after the whitewash in England, looking at reported conduct and discipline issues among the players. That review and the NCCIA inquiry are different processes, and it is worth keeping them apart when reading the headlines.

What happens next

With the petition gone, the notices stand. Rizwan has to reply to the agency. The two open questions are what the ICC tells him about the London seizure, and whether the NCCIA's inquiry produces anything beyond an inquiry.

Until it does, the position is unchanged: allegations, a live investigation, a player who denies everything, and no charge.

Our cricket coverage is at /news/cricket.