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PCB officials have confiscated the mobile phones of several Pakistan cricketers amid an undisclosed internal investigation in London.
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The devices will remain in the board’s custody until the conclusion of the third Test against England at Edgbaston.
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The extreme disciplinary measure further fractures a dressing room already reeling from a massive mid-tour squad purge.
PCB confiscates mobile phones of Pakistan cricketers until the end of the 3rd Test
The Pakistan Cricket Board has officially hit rock bottom in its management of the ongoing England tour. In a move that feels more like a prison lockdown than high-performance sports administration, the PCB has confiscated the mobile phones of several national cricketers amid a shadowy investigation in London.
Just days after purging head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and sending seven senior players packing following a 194-run humiliation at Lord’s, board officials have now stripped members of the new-look 16-man squad of their basic communication devices, according to 365 News.
The phones will reportedly remain firmly in the PCB’s custody until the final ball is bowled at Edgbaston. Confiscating electronics from international athletes mid-series is an unprecedented escalation, signalling deep institutional paranoia.
Whatever investigation is currently unfolding behind closed doors, it has completely overshadowed any actual cricket preparation for a hollowed-out roster desperately trying to avoid a series sweep.
MORE: Nasser Hussain says Pakistan has made things ‘even worse’ after the PCB’s Test team shake-up
The PCB’s London investigation turns the dressing room into a holding cell
The optics of keeping players’ personal devices under lock and key while the team attempts to prepare for a crucial Test in Birmingham are absolutely staggering.
The squad is already missing key personnel after the ruthless roster cuts, and now the remaining players are being treated as active suspects in an unspecified board inquiry.
It suggests a complete breakdown of trust between the PCB executives and the playing group. You don’t seize mobile phones unless you are desperately hunting for media leaks, inappropriate communications, or evidence of internal subversion. The board is essentially declaring open warfare in its own dressing room.
Adding this level of off-field drama to a squad already struggling with form, illness, and a complete tactical overhaul under interim coach Mike Hesson ensures that the focus is anywhere but on the English pace attack. The players are being forced to navigate an administrative minefield instead of analysing pitch conditions.
Treating athletes like criminal suspects guarantees an on-field collapse at Edgbaston
Seizing phones from a professional touring squad is not a display of discipline; it is an embarrassing admission of administrative insecurity. When a national cricket board resorts to interrogating its own locker room and confiscating personal property, the actual sport becomes completely irrelevant.
The PCB has spent this entire tour actively sabotaging its own team. Between sacking coaches after a single bad Test, calling up unproven domestic players at the last minute, and now launching a paranoid electronics sweep, the board has created an incredibly toxic and suffocating environment.
Expecting a recovering Babar Azam and a makeshift squad to compete against England while being treated like hostile witnesses is overkill. If the goal was to assert authority, the PCB has failed spectacularly. Now they are playing in fear of their own management rather than focusing on the opposition.
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Source: sports.yahoo.com
