ICC rejects Pak demand to remove Pycroft from Asia Cup; PCB in a fix over pullout threat

Dubai, Sep 16 (PTI) The ICC on Tuesday rejected Pakistan's demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft from the panel of officials for the ongoing Asia Cup despite the PCB's reported threat of a pullout that would cause heavy financial loss to the country.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had filed a complaint with the ICC alleging that Pycroft asked its captain Salman Ali Agha not to shake hands with his Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav at the time of toss in their Asia Cup match on Sunday.

"Late last night, ICC had sent a reply to PCB stating that Pycroft won't be removed and their plea has been rejected," an ICC source told PTI.

The 69-year-old Zimbabwean is due to officiate Pakistan's final group stage game against the UAE on Wednesday.

Pakistan cancelled a scheduled pre-match press conference here on Tuesday with team sources saying that it was done to "avoid" questions on the widely reported threat of a pullout.

Pakistan team manager Naved Cheema had also filed a complaint with the Asian Cricket Council alleging that it was on Pycroft's insistence that team sheets weren't exchanged between the two skippers on Sunday as is the norm.

After the match that India won by seven wickets, Suryakumar and his men did not exchange handshakes with their cross-border rivals as a mark of respect for the Pahalgam terror attack victims and their families.

A pullout is not an easy decision to pull off for Pakistan which stands to lose upto USD 16 million from the Asian Cricket Council's revenue for such a move.

"Can Naqvi risk Pakistan losing around USD 16 million out of a projected budget of USD 227 million for the fiscal year? That will be roughly seven per cent of the annual PCB revenue gone," a source close to developments in PCB told PTI.

Naqvi, as the head of ACC, will also have to bear the brunt and face the ire of the official broadcaster, which can refuse to pay the agreed upon fee.

Pycroft is one of the senior-most match referees in ICC Elite Panel with 695 international games to his credit (men and women across three formats).

It is reliably learnt that the situation arose due to PCB's Director of Cricket Operations Usman Walha, who didn't apprise his own skipper about the rules and regulations that are to be followed during the tournament.

It is learnt that an irate PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the current chairman of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), ordered the sacking of Walha on Monday for the embarrassment caused to the national cricket team and its captain.

According to well-placed sources, it was Walha's duty to inform Salman about the "No Handshake" policy but he didn't do so and the Pakistan skipper was apparently caught unawares by the turn of events.

"Walha should have released a statement at the toss itself when the two captains didn't shake hands. Naqvi apparently was furious as he handled it poorly," a PCB source said.

The PCB had wanted Pycroft to be removed from the entire tournament but now it would be interesting to see if they continue playing after the ICC, headed by India's Jay Shah, summarily rejected their demand.

It is understood that PCB is trying to work out a respectable solution by which Pycroft doesn't officiate in their matches.

One proposal given by the PCB is to have Richie Richardson stand in its match against the UAE on Wednesday but whether that would happen or not is the big question. PTI KHS PM PM PM