Pakistan vs India: Pakistan Cricket Board calls for the withdrawal of the Andy Pycroft referee from the Asian Cup while the degenerates handshake | Cricket news
Pakistan Cricket Board called the match referee Andy Pycroft to be withdrawn from the Asian Cup in a row climb on India’s refusal to shake hands on the field.
The parties met in Dubai on Sunday, the first match between the rivals since the main political conflict between nations earlier this year.
India won the match by seven counters, but has visibly lowered the traditional show of respect at the end of the match.
Pakistani captain Salman Ali Agha replied by not speaking during the post-match presentation, with an opposite number Suryakumar Yadav dedicating the victory to the armed forces of his country.
Now, the PCB has asked Pycroft to be withdrawn from the tournament, which would have been due to the management of the zimbabwean draw – which has also not seen any handshake between skippers.
The president of the PCB Mohin Naqvi wrote on X: “The PCB filed a complaint with the ICC concerning the violations of the referee of the code of the CPI conduct and the laws of the ICC concerning the spirit of cricket. The PCB demanded an immediate withdrawal of the match referee of the Asian Cup.”
Sky Sports News Approached the ICC for comments, with the director of World Cricket which has not yet issued a public response.
The development intervened after a declaration of PCB at the end of the evening published in Ourdou in the national media, describes the decision of Pycroft as “against the sporting spirit” and declared that the team leader Akram Cheema recorded an “official protest against the behavior of the referee of the match” with the International Cricket Council.
“Very disappointing to see the lack of sporting spirit,” wrote the president of the PCB, Mohin Naqvi, in an article on X.
“Dragging politics in the game goes against the very spirit of sport. Hopefully the future victories are celebrated by all the teams with grace.”
Suryakumar, who succeeded in winning points for India, did not wait for the usual handful handles with opposing players after the match before going to the locker room with his teammate Shivam Dube.
Agha reacted by jumping by an post-match television interview with the former international cricket player India Sanjay Manjrekar, a decision that Pakistani coach Mike Hesson described as a “follow-up effect”.
“We were ready to shake hands at the end of the match, we are obviously disappointed that our opposition was not done this,” added Hesson, a New Zealand who was appointed to Pakistan in May.
“We have sort of gone there to shake hands and they had already entered the locker room. It was a disappointing way for the match to finish, and a match that we were disappointed for the way we played, but we were certainly ready to shake hands.”
India and Pakistan can only meet in multi-team tournaments
Sunday’s match was the first between the best cricket teams from India and Pakistan since Pahalgam’s attack in April, when armed men opened fire on a group of Kashmir tourists controlled by India.
India is the designated host of the Asian Cup of Eight Nations, but the T20 tournament is played out in the United Arab Emirates because the Cricket teams of India and Pakistan do not play on the territory of the other.
There was also an uncertainty about India’s participation in the Asian Cup until the government specifies that cricket players would be authorized to compete with Pakistan in multinational tournaments.
Suryakumar said the Indian team was aligned on the Cricket Control Council in India and the government’s instructions that players would not serve the hand of the Pakistani players.
India T20 Captain Suryakumar Yadav and striker Shivam Dube immediately left the ground rather than shaking hands in the middle, just like the norm
“Our government and BCCI, we have been lined up today,” said Suryakumar at a post-match press conference. “We came here to play the game. We stick with all the victims of Pahalgam terrorist attacks, we hold on with their families and express our solidarity.”
The two teams are likely to play again in the Super 4 later stage this week, if they are first and second in group A. India and Pakistan will also meet during the Women’s World Cup on October 5, live Sky Sports.
