Asia Cup 2025: PCB Yet to Decide Amid Handshake Row

Sources said on Tuesday that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is likely to make a statement about the ongoing Asia Cup within the next few hours. Sources say that the cricket board is still insisting on getting a new match referee after the disputed India-Pakistan match in Dubai.

However, it seems that the team management in Dubai has not been told of any official decision by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on the issue.

Sources further said that if Pakistan’s request is not granted, the national squad would pull out of the competition completely.

Indian news sources said that the ICC turned down the PCB’s appeal because messages from the ICC’s operations or legal department said that the referee had nothing to do with the handshake scandal after the match on Sunday in Dubai.

The ICC and PCB have not yet said anything officially about these claims. India easily beat Pakistan by seven wickets on the field after limiting them to 127-9 and chasing the goal in 16 overs.

Suryakumar Yadav hit a huge six to win the game. He celebrated with colleague Shivam Dube by hugging and shaking hands before going straight to the dressing room.

Indian players, on the other hand, did not shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts as is usual. People saw Pakistan’s players waiting for their opponents, while the Indian team instead closed the dressing room doors.

At the toss, neither Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha nor India’s captain offered a handshake, which was similar to the snub.

Salman also skipped the ceremony after the game, so head coach Mike Hesson had to talk to the media.

“Of course, we were ready to shake hands when the game was over. We were let down that our opponents didn’t do that. Hesson added, “We went over there, but they were already going to the dressing room.”

“It was a letdown that the game ended like that. We weren’t happy with how we played, but we were happy to shake hands, he said.

Hesson said that Salman wasn’t there because of the scandal and that it was “just a flow-on effect.” We wanted to talk and shake hands at the end, but that didn’t happen, and that was pretty much the end of it.

The PCB then filed official complaints with both the ICC and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), asking for Pycroft to be removed as match referee.

The PCB said, “There were no handshakes before or after the match, which goes against the spirit of cricket and long-standing traditions.” The letter went on to say that Pycroft “failed to fulfill his responsibilities as match referee” and broke the ICC Code of Conduct.

Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the PCB and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), used social media platform X to back up the board’s viewpoint.

“The PCB has filed a complaint with the ICC about the match referee breaking the ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC regulations. The referee of the match did not follow the spirit of cricket. Naqvi said, “We have asked for Andy Pycroft to be taken out of the Asia Cup right away.”

The PCB further said that the people in charge of the event had been following orders from the Indian board and, in the end, the Indian government.

According to reports, Pakistan’s media manager Naveed Akram Cheema brought the subject up with Tournament Director Andrew Russell. At first, Russell said the orders came from the Indian board, but he later made it clear that they came from the government.

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