The International Cricket Council (ICC) has dismissed the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) complaint seeking the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from the ongoing Asia Cup over a dispute during the recent Pakistan-India match, Indian media outlets claimed on Tuesday.
The PCB had yesterday lodged a complaint with the ICC against Pycroft over his alleged violations of rules pertaining to the “Spirit of Cricket“, with the board claiming that the referee had asked the Pakistan and India captains “not to shake hands at the time of the toss” for Sunday’s match.
“Late last night, ICC had sent a reply to PCB stating that Pycroft won’t be removed and their plea has been rejected,” an unnamed ICC source told the Press Trust of India.
However, Cricbuzz reported, “When contacted, the PCB has denied receiving any communication from the ICC.”
The PCB has yet to issue an official statement on the development.
The Times of India (TOI) reported it was “actually the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) officials on the ground who informed Pycroft about the no-handshake policy at the toss”. It is unclear if any such official policy had been set for the match.
Another TOI report quoted an unnamed PCB source as saying, “It is very unlikely that the PCB will pull out from the Asia Cup.”
At the centre of the complaint is the Indian team’s refusal to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts at the toss and the match’s end, as is customary. PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi yesterday claimed, without naming, that Pycroft had violated the “ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) Laws pertaining to the Spirit of Cricket”.
According to an earlier press release by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Pycroft is scheduled to be the match referee for the Pakistan-UAE match tomorrow.
‘Politicised’ victory
The Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan took place on Sunday in Dubai, where spinners led by Kuldeep Yadav helped the Men in Blue beat the Green Shirts by seven wickets as the neighbours met on the cricket pitch for the first time since their military conflict in May.
After hitting the winning shot, skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his teammates refused to shake hands with their Pakistan counterparts.
The captain said in the post-match press conference that the move was in alignment “with the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the government” and the team wanted to give the Green Shirts a “proper reply”.
Suryakumar also seemingly “politicised” the victory by bringing up the April terrorist attack in India-occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam — over which Delhi and Islamabad fought the four-day conflict in May — at his post-match presentation and said the victory was “a perfect gift” for his country.
He also dedicated the win to the Indian armed forces, with Pakistani cricketers and various analysts criticising his comments.
In response, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha did not show up in the post-match ceremony and coach Mike Hesson termed the Indian team’s conduct “disappointing”.
