Andy Pycroft lines up with the teams before the India vs Pakistan match in Asia Cup.
Credit: X
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially rejected Pakistan's demand to remove Andy Pycroft from the panel of match referees for the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai.
Agencies had reported that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sent another mail to the game's global governing body reiterating its demand to remove Pycroft from all its games.
They also wanted Richie Richardson as match referee for the team's last group tie against the UAE.
However, it is now more or less certain that Pycroft will officiate in the must-win game for Pakistan on Wednesday (September 17) evening.
The controversy began after Indian players led by skipper Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team at the end of their match on Sunday.
Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha did not attend the post-match presentation ceremony in protest.
PCB blamed Pycroft for the fiasco, saying that he asked Salman not to shake hands with Suryakumar and also did not allow the exchange of team-sheets between the two skippers as is the norm.
Suryakumar, on his part, stated that 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.
Pakistan, however, labelled Indian players' actions as "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 it rejected.
However Pycroft had clarified his stand with a post on X.
"I stand by every decision that I took yesterday. Pakistan players have had a history of bringing disrepute to the game of cricket be it Hafeez and Ajmal in past (reported for chucking by me) or the current bunch of players like Faheem and Abrar. So I had to take precautions," said Pycroft.
Pakistan stand to lose close to $16 million if they act on the threat and 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.
(with inputs from agencies)