Pakistan's cricket team, already touring England for a three match Test series, is now facing turmoil that goes well beyond the scoreline. Having lost the first two Tests and with it the series itself, the squad has reportedly handed over every player's mobile phone to the Pakistan Cricket Board ahead of the third and final Test.
Chaos after the second Test defeat
The defeat in the second Test triggered visible upheaval inside the Pakistani camp. Team head Sarfaraz Ahmed and six other players, seven in total, were recalled from England back to Pakistan in the middle of the tour. With the series already lost, this sudden mid tour recall raised fresh questions about what exactly is going on within the squad.
Every player's phone now with the board
As preparations for the third Test get underway, it has emerged that all the players have surrendered their electronic gadgets to the PCB. These devices will stay in the board's custody until the final Test of the series comes to an end. The identities of the players whose phones were taken have not been disclosed, and the PCB itself has not publicly explained why the devices were seized in the first place.
Match fixing fears resurface
Cricket boards typically order the confiscation of players' phones during a series only when there is suspicion of corruption or match fixing. That is precisely why this development, surfacing just before the third Test against England, has stirred alarm in cricketing circles. The heavy series defeat, the sudden shake up in team management, and now the seizure of phones together have once again cast a shadow of match fixing suspicion over Pakistan cricket.
