The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday claimed that match referee Andy Pycroft apologised for his actions during the Asia Cup Group A match between India and Pakistan. Following the conclusion of the game, there were no handshakes between the players from the two teams. The contest between the arch-rivals was played amid the highly politically charged climate following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
PCB tried their best to get Pycroft removed as the referee for their match against the UAE, but the theatrics and drama were to no avail, as the ICC saw no reason to remove the senior official.
The PCB also claimed that the ICC have shown readiness to investigate a possible Code of Conduct breach during the match between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. The PCB statement came as the contest between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was delayed by one hour.
“ICC’s controversial match referee Andy Pycroft has apologised to the manager and captain of the Pakistani cricket team. Andy Pycroft had prohibited the captains of both teams from shaking hands during the India-Pakistan match,” the PCB said in an official statement.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board had strongly reacted to Andy Pycroft’s action. Andy Pycroft termed the incident on September 14 as a result of miscommunication and apologised. The ICC has expressed its readiness to investigate the violation of the Code of Conduct during the match on September 14,” the statement added.
No handshakes were exchanged between the players from both teams during the Group A match between India and Pakistan. During the toss, Suryakumar and Salman Agha maintained distance and avoided eye contact. However, the saga turned ugly after the PCB took offence at the entire chain of events.
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PCB writes to the ICC
The PCB eventually wrote to the ICC twice, seeking Pycroft’s removal as the match referee for the remainder of the eight-team tournament. However, the global body turned down the request on both occasions.
However, PCB’s theatrics continued as they did not turn up at the stadium in time ahead of the match against the UAE on Wednesday. This led to several outlets reporting that PCB might just be withdrawing from the tournament.
Later, it was confirmed that the start of the match had been pushed back by one hour as PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi explored his options with Ramiz Raja and Najam Sethi. Eventually, it was confirmed that Pakistan would indeed play the tie against the UAE.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Pakistan team had cancelled their previously scheduled pre-match press conference. The team did have a training session; however, the session with the reporters was called off last minute.
