Rizwan and Imam quizzed by Pakistan's cybercrimes investigators

It is not clear yet what the questioning was about, or whether it is related to the PCB's own inquiry, which they announced earlier this week. The board did not name any players then but said it had "initiated an internal disciplinary inquiry following media reports concerning discipline and conduct, which are currently being reviewed internally". That process, the board said, was being "conducted under PCB regulations".

At the end of the Lord's Test, which Pakistan lost by 194 runs after losing the first by an innings and 103 runs, seven players as well as the head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were removed from the squad. In their place, seven other players travelled to England, five of whom were uncapped at international level.

Rizwan's form with the bat on this tour had been poor, with scores of 12, 41, 7 and 1, following low returns in two Tests in the Caribbean as well. His glovework, however, has been exemplary on both tours and until the West Indies series, he had been Pakistan's leading Test runscorer since January 2024. But an ungainly hoick to be dismissed for 1 in the second innings at Lord's attracted plenty of criticism.

Imam, meanwhile, was diagnosed with a grade-1 tear in his left calf after the conclusion of the first day's play at Lord's and did not appear on the field during either of Pakistan's innings. On the final morning, during pre-game warm-ups, he came out to attempt some gentle knockdowns but struggled physically. Aaqib Javed, the PCB's chief selector and director of high performance publicly questioned Imam's injury and warned then of an inquiry into it.

In defending the squad changes, the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi alluded to wider factors at play, without expanding. "We have had a discussion to ascertain the reasons behind it. They include factors beyond performance and we will get to the bottom of it."

The selection of both the players for the West Indies and England tours was also the subject of a notice sent by the PCB to selectors after the Lord's Test. The notice asked for a written explanation outlining the reasons for their selection and the process through which it was arrived at, within 24 hours of the receipt of notice. Misbah-ul-Haq, one of the selectors, resigned from the post following the changes to the squad.