The suspense continues around Pakistan’s participation in Asia Cup 2025 as uncertainty looms over their match against UAE. Pakistan team raised concerns and that led to the cancellation of their pre match press conference. This indicates that the Pakistani government is seeking clarification on the no handshake issue after the India match.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took it up a notch by writing to Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and International Cricket Council (ICC). In their letter they requested removal of match referee Andy Pycroft due to his conduct during India match. ICC rejected this request and PCB threatened to boycott UAE match and withdraw from the tournament if Pycroft wasn’t removed.
Adding to the confusion UAE team sent their coach Lalchand Rajput to the press conference while Pakistan sent no officials or players. Late on Tuesday night a spokesperson for Pakistan team reportedly sent messages to journalists saying a plan for UAE match and rest of Asia Cup will be made clear.
According to DAWN the message read, Consultations are underway and a decision will be made tomorrow (Wednesday). The decision will be in the best interest of Pakistan.
Read Also:- ICC Presents Two Options to PCB Before Clash Against UAE
Late that night PTI reported that ICC and PCB reached a compromise on the no handshake issue. ICC has decided to remove Pycroft from Pakistan vs UAE match.
Reportedly ICC is sending Richie Richardson as the match referee for the game, replacing Pycroft who was the referee in India-Pakistan match. Pycroft will no longer be overseeing Pakistan’s matches in Asia Cup.
Mohsin Naqvi, PCB chief and head of Asian Cricket Council posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Pycroft has violated the ICC Code of Conduct during India-Pakistan match.
PCB has filed a complaint with ICC about the Match Referee’s violations of ICC Code of Conduct and laws of cricket, Naqvi tweeted on Monday. PCB has demanded the immediate removal of the Match Referee from Asia Cup.
Although ICC rejected the request to remove Pycroft earlier but now it seems he is being made a scapegoat in the no handshake issue, in a dramatic turn of events. The situation is still fluid and more updates are expected as both teams get ready for their match.
