The Asia Cup handshake row continued on Wednesday with Pakistan insisting that match referee Andy Pycroft had ‘acted at the behest of BCCI’. Controversy had erupted over the weekend after a politically charged India-Pakistan match ended with the men in blue refusing to shake hands with their rivals. The Pakistan Cricket Board had blamed Pycroft for the fiasco — claiming that he asked the players to avoid shaking hands and did not allow the exchange of team-sheets between the two skippers.
According to multiple reports, the PCB sent yet another mail to the International Cricket Council late on Tuesday evening to reiterate its demand for the removal of Pycroft. A Dawn.com report citing sources in the PCB added that Pakistani team director Naveed Akram Cheema learnt that “the match referee had been acting at the behest of the BCCI”. The details were allegedly shared after Cheema approached tournament director Andy Russell with his concerns.
Pycroft is due to officiate Pakistan’s must-win game against the UAE later this evening. Pakistan also stands to lose around $16 million if they opt to leave the competition. It would also be very poor optics for the country’s cricket board, which is headed by the current chair of the Asian Cricket Council, Mohsin Naqvi.
Multiple letters to ICC
The PCB had initially threatened to withdraw from the competition and wrote a missive seeking the removal of Pycroft from the tournament. The ICC had denied the request — prompting intense negotiations. Initial reports suggested that the PCB had reached a “middle-of-the-road” agreement under which match referee Andy Pycroft will not be officiating matches involving Pakistan with Richie Richardson being summoned to do duty in their must-win fixture. However this has not been confirmed.
“The match referee failed to discharge his responsibility: to ensure that respect was extended and maintained amongst the captains as well as between the two competing sides; and to create a positive atmosphere by his conduct and encourage the captains and participating teams to do likewise. In fact, the match referee’s instructions to the two team captains were entirely directed towards achieving the opposite result,” PCB alleged in its initial missive.
What is the issue?
The men in blue had eked out a resounding seven-wicket win during the controversial clash that was sparked widespread protests and calls for boycott on Sunday. Political tensions also spilled onto the cricket pitch with Team India refusing to shake hands with the rival team after the match. Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha didn’t attend the post-match presentation ceremony in protest.
Indian Team captain Suryakumar Yadav said the decision to avoid handshakes with the cross-border rivals was a gesture of solidarity towards the victims of the Pakistan-backed Pahalgam terror attack and the Indian Armed Forces, which carried out Operation Sindoor in retaliation. Meanwhile Pakistan called the move “unsporting” while blaming Pycroft for acting in a partisan manner. The accusations were followed by a pullout threat and a formal demand to have Pycroft removed by the ICC, which rejected the plea.
(With inputs from agencies)