The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has demanded the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from the panel of match referees for the Asia Cup 2025, a day after the no-handshake row between India and Pakistan players. The Indian players avoided the handshakes with their Pakistan counterparts after thrashing them in their Asia Cup clash in Dubai as captain Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube walked off the field after hitting the winning runs.
The PCB had lodged a complaint against the Indian team with the ICC match referee and is now coming hard on the official himself.
"The PCB has lodged a complaint with 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," PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said in a social media post as quoted by Cricbuzz.
The reason behind the demand to remove Pycroft stems from the toss episode when the match referee had reportedly requested Pakistan captain Salman Agha not to shake hands with India skipper Suryakumar at the flip of the coin, and the PCB was miffed at his behaviour.
Pakistan had lodged a complaint against India after the no-handshake row. "Team manager Naveed Cheema lodged a strong protest against the Indian players' behaviour of not shaking hands. It was deemed as unsporting and against the spirit of the game. As a protest, we did not send our captain to the post-match ceremony," PCB's statement read according to PTI.
India skipper Surya had avoided the handshake with Salman at the toss after the latter had opted to bat first. Pakistan had posted just 127/9 on the board only after a late cameo from Shaheen Shah Afridi. The Men in Blue chased down the target with ease as they hunted 128 with seven wickets in hand and 25 balls to spare.
Surya played a captain's knock as he made an unbeaten 47 from 37 balls, and hit the winning six, following which he and Dube went back straight into the Indian dressing room, avoiding another shake of the hands with the Pakistan team.
