Times of India in Dubai: Left smarting from the seven-wicket drubbing at India’s hands on Sunday — and the subsequent snub over post-match handshakes — the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has threatened to pull out of the Asia Cup unless match referee Andy Pycroft is removed.PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi — who also serves as president of the Asian Cricket Council and is Pakistan’s interior minister — confirmed the move in a post on X: “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 the immediate removal of the match referee from the Asia Cup.”
According to Pakistani media reports, the PCB is likely to withdraw from the tournament if their demand is not met. Pycroft reportedly took Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha aside moments before the toss and informed him that there would be no handshake between the captains.After the match, the Pakistan team walked halfway towards the Indian dressing room but, with no response forthcoming from the Indian players or support staff, Agha and his teammates waited briefly before turning back.In its official statement, the PCB said team manager Naveed Cheema had filed a protest against what he called “unsporting behaviour” from the Indian players.“Team manager Naveed Cheema lodged a strong protest against 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,” the statement read.The PCB reiterated its claim that Pycroft instructed Agha at the toss to avoid shaking hands with his Indian counterpart. “The Pakistan team management has lodged a protest, calling the behaviour against the spirit of sports,” the board added.The ICC is yet to issue a public response. Naqvi, in a separate post on X, wrote: “Utterly disappointing to witness the lack of sportsmanship. Dragging politics into the game goes against the very spirit of sports. Let’s hope future victories are celebrated by all teams with grace.”India captain Suryakumar Yadav defended his team’s decision, saying it was a collective call: “I feel a few things in life are beyond sportsman spirit. We actually stand with all the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families and express our solidarity. We dedicate this win to our brave armed forces who took part in Operation Sindoor. As they continue to inspire us all, we will try our best to inspire them as well whenever we get the chance.”Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson said his players were willing to shake hands and expressed disappointment. “We wanted to shake hands but were disappointed that the opposition didn’t do that. Disappointed with the way we played, but we wanted to shake hands,” he said, adding that Agha’s absence from the post-match ceremony was a direct reaction to the incident.Meanwhile, Telecom Asia Sport quoted sources as saying that Usman Wahla, PCB’s director of international cricket, had been “suspended for delaying the submission of the protest letter.”The two sides are set to meet again in the Super 4s stage, if they both qualify.
