In what has come as a major blow to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s expectations of the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from the panel ahead of their final group stage game of the Asia Cup against hosts UAE, the International Cricket Council has outrightly rejected their demand, according to reports.
The Pakistan Cricket Board complained to the International Cricket Council, alleging that match referee Andy Pycroft instructed Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha not to shake hands with India’s Suryakumar Yadav during the toss ahead of their Asia Cup clash on Sunday, September 14.
According to reports, Pakistan said that if the ICC do not heed to their request, they would withdraw from the Asia Cup.
“Late last night, ICC had sent a reply to PCB stating that Pycroft won’t be removed and their plea has been rejected," an International Cricket Council source told PTI.
Pycroft is due to officiate Pakistan’s final group stage match against the UAE on Wednesday and it needs to be seen if the team withdraws due to the same.
Pakistan team manager Naved Cheema had filed a complaint with the ACC alleging that it was on Pycroft’s insistence that team sheets were not exchanged between the two captains on Sunday, as is the norm.
Pycroft is one of the senior-most match referees in the International Cricket Council’s Elite Panel with 695 international matches to his credit.
According to a report in PTI, the situation arose because of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Director of Cricket Operations, Usman Walha, who did not tell Salman about the rules and regulations that are to be followed during the Asia Cup.
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The report adds that an angry Pakistan Cricket Board chief, Mohsin Naqvi, who is the current chairman of the ACC as well, ordered the sacking of Walha on Monday for the embarrassment caused to the national cricket team and Salman.
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