Overview:
The PCB, in a late-night statement released in Urdu to domestic media, described Pycroft’s decision as against sportsmanship.
AP News and Staff Writer – The Pakistan Cricket Board has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take strict action against match referee Andy Pycroft, accusing him of breaking the rules in their match against India.
The strained political relations between India and Pakistan spilt onto the cricket field when no handshakes were exchanged between players, before or after their Asia Cup game in Dubai.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said match referee Andy Pycroft of Zimbabwe requested both captains — Suryakumar Yadav of India and Salman Ali Agha of Pakistan — not to shake hands during the pre-game coin toss on Sunday.
The PCB, in a late-night statement released in Urdu to domestic media, described Pycroft’s decision as “against sportsmanship” and said team manager Naveed Akram Cheema registered a “formal protest against the match referee’s behaviour” with the International Cricket Council. The ICC is yet to issue a public response.
“Utterly disappointing to witness the lack of sportsmanship,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi wrote in a post on X. “Dragging politics into the game goes against the very spirit of sports. Lets hope future victories are celebrated by all teams with grace.”
Naqvi is also the current president of the Asian Cricket Council and demanded “an immediate removal” of Pycroft from further duties at the Asia Cup.
“The PCB has complained to the ICC regarding violations by the Match Referee of the ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC Laws pertaining to the Spirit of Cricket. The PCB has demanded an immediate removal of the Match Referee from the Asia Cup,” Mohsin Naqvi wrote in another tweet.
Suryakumar, who hit the winning runs for India, didn’t wait for the customary handshakes with opposing players after the match before walking to the dressing room along with his teammate Shivam Dube.
Agha reacted by skipping a post-match TV interview with former India international cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, a move which Pakistan coach Mike Hesson described as a “follow-on effect.”
“We were ready to shake hands at the end of the game, we obviously are disappointed that our opposition didn’t do that,” added Hesson, a New Zealander who was appointed to the Pakistan job in May. “We sort of went over there to shake hands, and they’d already gone into the changing room.
“That was a disappointing way for the match to finish, and a match we were disappointed for the way we played, but we were certainly willing to shake hands.”
Suryakumar said the Indian team was aligned with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and government instructions that players wouldn’t shake hands with Pakistan players.
“Our government and BCCI, we were aligned today,” Suryakumar said in a post-match news conference. “We came here to just play the game. We stand with all the victims of Pahalgam terror attacks, stand with their families, and express our solidarity.”
Both teams are likely to play again in the Super 4 stage later this week, if they place first and second in Group A.