Online Reporter
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has demanded the “immediate removal” of Andy Pycroft, the match referee for the India vs Pakistan game on Sunday evening, from the remainder of the Asia Cup.
The demand from Naqvi, who is also the current president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), came a day after the PCB alleged that Pycroft had “requested the captains not to shake hands at the toss” as is customary.
Yesterday, the PCB sought to escalate the matter. “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,” Naqvi said in a tweet. “The PCB has demanded an immediate removal of the Match Referee from the Asia Cup.”
ESPNcricinfo has sent a query to the ICC, which is the ultimate authority, to check whether former Zimbabwe all-rounder, Pycroft did indeed instruct the captains not to greet each other at the toss.
At the conclusion of the game, which India won by seven wickets, the Indian players and support staff chose not to meet the Pakistan side, an unwritten custom, with Suryakumar Yadav, the India captain, saying afterwards that the Indian “government and the BCCI were aligned” on the matter.
Pakistan captain Salman Agha subsequently skipped the post-match presentation, and coach Mike Hesson called India’s decision “disappointing” when he spoke at a press interaction.
While this is an ACC tournament where the ICC has no organisational role, the match officials are allocated by the ICC. Withdrawing a match referee and appointing a replacement would require the ICC to get involved. The BCCI, meanwhile, are the official hosts of this Asia Cup, and might be required to play a part in the matter too.
This is the second statement Naqvi has issued since tensions between India and Pakistan spilled over following the game. Shortly after the defeat, he accused India of “dragging politics into the game” and lacking “sportsmanship”. Suryakumar, meanwhile, said at the press conference that a “few things in life were ahead of sportsman’s spirit”.
Pycroft is one of two match referees at the Asia Cup, Richie Richardson being the other, and had two more games to officiate in during the group stage of the tournament: Hong Kong vs Sri Lanka in Dubai (yesterday) and Pakistan vs UAE, also in Dubai, tomorrow.
This was the first meeting between the two teams since India and Pakistan exchanged cross-border hostilities in May, and uncertainty had surrounded the match in the intervening months, with several calls for India to boycott it. Clarity only emerged when the Indian government made public its official policy for sporting engagements with Pakistan, greenlighting meetings in multilateral events while refusing to engage in bilateral contests.
As such, this might only have been the first part of an issue that could well come up again next Sunday: Pakistan need to beat the UAE to secure progression to the Super Four, where they will face India in Dubai again on September 21 –EspnCricInfo.
