The buzz is, ICC is going to reject PCB’s request to remove Andy Pycroft as match referee for Asia Cup 2025. PCB was not happy and sent a letter saying 69 year old Pycroft was responsible for the handshake drama between the two big rivals.
After India won their Asia Cup match on Sunday at Dubai International Stadium, the Indian team didn’t shake hands with Pakistan players and it blew up into a big deal. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav said they did it to support the families who lost their loved ones in the Pahalgam terror attack earlier this year where 26 people were killed.
PCB was not happy with what India did. First Pakistan team manager Naved Cheema complained to Asian Cricket Council (ACC) run by Mohsin Naqvi who is also PCB chairman. Cheema said Pycroft started the whole no-handshake thing at the toss. Then PCB asked ICC to step in saying they will pull out of the tournament if Pycroft is not removed from the referee list. Naqvi said on ‘X’ that PCB complained to ICC about Match Referees not following ICC Code of Conduct and MCC Laws about Spirit of Cricket and they want the Match Referee gone from the Asia Cup right away.
Although ICC hasn’t said anything officially, Cricbuzz said ICC won’t listen to PCB as they don’t think there is enough reason to act. Report also said ICC thought handshake thing was not a big deal.
Report said most people at ICC think Pycroft didn’t do much in the handshake situation. All he might have done was tell the Pakistan captain to stop one captain from not shaking hands with the other at the toss so it wouldn’t look bad.
The thought is that it would be bad news to change a match official just because one person wants it, especially when it looks like he didn’t really cause the problem after Indian players didn’t shake hands with Pakistani players after the Asia Cup game on Sunday (September 14) night at Dubai International Stadium. What’s ICC got to do with it? Someone from ACC talked to Pycroft.X
Let’s wait and see what the PCB decides, as they had threatened to withdraw from the tournament if things did not go their way. The source said that refusal of handshakes from the Indian players was an issue with them when in fact it was supposed to be a compulsory procedure.
Meanwhile, PTI reported that the ACC is thinking of a compromise in removing Pycroft from all the remaining Pakistan matches. The Zimbabwean was set to manage the team’s last group stage match against the UAE on Wednesday.
An insider in PCB circles told PTI that a good solution could be to not have Pycroft in Pakistan’s matches. Richie Richardson would be okay with the PCB.
