ICC likely to reject the PCB PCB `pycroft ” demand, Pakistan could boycott the water match

The International Cricket Council (ICC) will, in all likelihood, not entertain the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) request to remove Andy Pycroft from the panel of match referees for the Asia Cup. The PCB had alleged that Pycroft had a major role to play in the handshake debacle, claiming he’d favoured India over Pakistan.

ICC rejects PCB’s plea

According to Cricbuzz, the ICC doesn’t agree with the PCB’s assessment. They believe Pycroft had little to no role in the whole incident. He merely conveyed the Indian team’s message to the Pakistan captain, Salman Ali Agha. This was done to avoid humiliation at the toss for the India vs Pakistan match.

Salman didn’t look upset at toss time. But after Suryakumar Yadav and co. refused to shake hands after the game, he refused to turn up for the post-match interview.

“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,” Naqvi had written to ICC.

Will Pakistan boycott the UAE match?

It was reported that PCB could pull out of the Pakistan vs UAE match if PCB’s demand isn’t met. However, that had come out before the UAE beat Oman in their second match of the Asia Cup. As things stand, Pakistan and the UAE will battle for the second Super Four spot from Group A. India has already qualified after beating the UAE and Pakistan.

It’ll be fascinating to see whether PCB and Naqvi have the guts to pull out of what is a virtual knockout match. This would mean that Pakistan will be eliminated from the Asia Cup in the group stage itself.