The ICC has rejected the Pakistan Cricket Board’s demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft from the Asia Cup.
According to sources, the ICC has officially informed the board about the rejection of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s demand regarding the match referee, after which the PCB is likely to consult the government for its future course of action.
Sources say that PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is expected to consult with key government officials today.
In addition, the Pakistan Cricket Board will soon give its stance on the ICC’s decision on the demand to remove the referee of the Pakistan-India match.
According to sources, the PCB will soon take a decision regarding the Asia Cup and the board will present its stance on the Asia Cup in the next few hours.
Sources say that if Pakistan’s demand is not accepted, the team will withdraw from the Asia Cup.
Earlier, the Indian cricket website had claimed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had rejected Pakistan’s request to remove referee Andy Pycroft from the Pakistan-India match.
Read More: Pakistan decides not to play any more matches in Asia Cup if match referee is not replaced
According to the Indian website, the ICC had informed the Pakistan Cricket Board about this last night.
Pakistan had demanded that the ICC remove match referee Pycroft from the Asia Cup in the handshake issue.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi demands
It should be remembered that PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi had demanded the immediate removal of match referee Pycroft.
The demand from Asian Cricket Council President and Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi comes a day after the PCB alleged that Pycroft had requested the captains not to shake hands at the toss.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has demanded the immediate removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from the remaining matches of the Asia Cup, which will be played between India and Pakistan on Sunday evening. The demand from Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the current president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), comes a day after the PCB alleged that Pycroft had requested the captains not to shake hands at the toss, as is customary.
On Monday, the PCB sought to escalate the matter. Naqvi said in a tweet, “PCB has filed a complaint with ICC regarding violations of the ICC Code of Conduct by the Match Referee and the MCC Rules relating to the Spirit of Cricket. The PCB has demanded the immediate removal of the match referee from the Asia Cup.”
ESPN Cricinfo asked the ICC in a letter whether Pycroft had indeed instructed the captains not to greet each other at the toss.
At the end of the game, which India won by seven wickets, the Indian players and support staff chose not to meet the Pakistani team, with Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav later saying that the Indian “government and BCCI are in agreement on this matter”.
Indian decision disappointing, says Pakistan coach Mike Hesson
Pakistan captain Salman Agha later walked out of the match and coach Mike Hesson described India’s decision as “disappointing” in a press conference.
While this is an ACC tournament where the ICC has no organisational role, match officials are allocated by the ICC. The ICC will have to get involved to recall the match referee and appoint his replacement. Meanwhile, the BCCI is the official host of this Asia Cup and may also need to play a role in the matter.
This is Mohsin Naqvi’s second statement since tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after the game. Immediately after the defeat, he accused India of “drag politics into the game” and lack of “sportsmanship”. Meanwhile, Suryakumar told a press conference that “some things in life are beyond the passion of the player”.
Pycroft is one of two match referees in the Asia Cup, the other being Richie Richardson, and has two more games to take charge of during the group stage of the tournament, Hong Kong vs Sri Lanka in Dubai on Monday and Pakistan vs UAE in Dubai on Wednesday.
This was the first meeting between the two teams since India and Pakistan exchanged cross-border hostilities in May and the match had been shrouded in uncertainty in the intervening months, following several calls from India to boycott it. The clarification came only after the Indian government made public its official policy for sporting engagements with Pakistan, refusing to participate in bilateral events while green-lighting meetings in multilateral events.
Thus, this could be just the first part of the issue that could come to the fore again next Sunday, with Pakistan needing to beat the United Arab Emirates to secure progress to the Super Four, where they will face India again in Dubai on September 21.
