ISLAMABAD (TNS) Controversial match referee Andy Pycroft apologized to Pakistan’s captain and manager while the Pakistan Cricket Board allowed the national team to play the match against the UAE. The match played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium started with an hour’s delay. The match was delayed due to the removal of the match referee by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and negotiations with the International Cricket Council (ICC). Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mohsin Naqvi said that many people cooperated in the matter of the match referee, they were constantly watching this issue, even he himself had no idea what the decision would be.
Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi said that I am grateful to Allah Almighty, Allah has respected Pakistan, I hope that in the future we will focus on cricket and not on politics, our time should be spent on cricket and not on politics. There is hope for the team, they showed a good performance, I will tell the nation to support them until the end of the tournament, if there are any shortcomings in the players, they will definitely remove them, we have a panel of selectors who will review the performance, I promise that if any weakness is seen, they will remove it. On this occasion, former PCB Chairman Najam Sethi said that the Pakistan Cricket Board’s stance has been that there should be no politics in the game, they did politics, we did not play politics, we showed sportsmanship, Pakistan has asked for an apology from the match referee and that apology has come. Former PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said on this occasion that Pakistan should support the team, Andy Pycroft seems to be India’s favorite, Andy Pycroft is a constant fixer, he has been a match referee in India’s matches 90 times, which is amazing. This is our victory, a delicate situation had become, I am glad that no emotional decision was made, whatever we have to talk about, it will have to be answered through the performance of the Pakistan team, whatever our emotions are, you should tell us on the field how great a cricket nation we are. Ramiz Raja further said that I felt very bad about the things said in the post-match, who will be responsible for this, the apology that has come is a good move, cricket should be allowed to remain cricket, if it becomes a political platform, this series will not stop again, Mohsin Naqvi said that there will be an inquiry into this matter, those responsible for this will be found out. After the toss, the captain of the Pakistan cricket team said that to be honest, this is a great day for us to play, our focus is to implement our plans. According to a spokesperson for the Pakistan Cricket Board, match referee Andy Pycroft has apologized to the manager and captain of the Pakistan cricket team, Salman Ali Agha. Andy Pycroft apologized to the Pakistan team, calling the September 14 incident a result of miscommunication. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also expressed its willingness to investigate the violation of the code of conduct during the Pakistan-India match on September 14. Earlier, Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Mohsin Naqvi tweeted on the social networking site ‘X’ that the Pakistan team has been instructed to leave the hotel for the stadium. In the match played between arch-rivals Pakistan and India in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 in the United Arab Emirates, a violation of the code of conduct by match referee Andy Pycroft came to light. The Asian Cricket Council’s investigation has been completed, which has revealed that the match referee, at the request of the venue manager from India, prohibited the national team captain Salman Ali Agha from shaking hands with the captain of the Indian team. Match referee Andy Pycroft asked Salman Ali Agha to mute his microphone at the exact moment of the toss and listen. The match referee told the national team captain not to shake hands with Surya Kumar Yadav after the toss. It should be noted that according to the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, the match referee cannot directly give instructions to the captain or players, the match referee is only obliged to give a message to the team manager. It should be noted that after defeating Pakistan in the Asia Cup, the Indian team did not shake hands with the Pakistani players, violating the sportsman spirit. According to the spokesperson of the Pakistan team, the match referee had requested the captains not to shake hands at the time of the toss. Even after the match, the two players did not shake hands and the Indian players went straight to their dressing rooms. In protest, the national team captain Salman Ali Agha also did not attend the closing ceremony. Later, the PCB demanded the removal of Zimbabwean match referee Andy Pycroft from the Asia Cup and threatened not to play any more matches in the tournament if this was not done.
