Pakistan's Asia Cup 2025 Participation in Doubt Amid Referee Spat and Demands OR Asia Cup 2025 in Crisis? Pakistan's Referee Dispute and Potential Withdrawal Raise Concerns

Dubai: Cricket’s latest flashpoint is threatening to overshadow the Asia Cup. For the second straight day, uncertainty loomed large as Pakistan pushed for the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft following the post-match handshake controversy with India — a demand that sources say the International Cricket Council (ICC) refused to entertain. The controversy erupted after India’s seven-wicket win in a Group A clash on Sunday when Indian players skipped the customary handshake and even shut the dressing-room door on their rivals. Mohsin Naqvi — the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman who is also the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the country’s federal interior minister — took to social media to express his displeasure, calling the snub “against the spirit of the game”. “The PCB lodged a complaint with the ICC regarding violations by the match referee of the ICC code of conduct and the MCC laws pertaining to the spirit of cricket. The PCB demanded an immediate removal of the match referee from the Asia Cup,” Naqvi posted on X. The complaint, lodged through team manager Naveed Cheema, accused Pycroft of instructing Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha not to shake hands with his Indian counterpart ahead of the toss. Adding to the drama, reports in Pakistani media claimed that PCB sacked its director of international cricket operations, Usama Wahla, for not reacting quickly enough when the controversy broke. Some reports even suggested Wahla’s dismissal was partly due to allowing pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi to collect the post-match award after the presentation was boycotted by captain Salman Ali Agha. The ICC has so far refrained from making a public statement but sources confirmed that Pakistan’s demand was turned down. An ICC official told TOI that removing a match referee on a team’s request would “set a wrong precedent” and undermine the independence of match officials. The decision was reportedly conveyed to the PCB on Monday night. India, too, have had their share of run-ins with match referees in the past, though the ICC has traditionally backed its officials, barring the 2008 ‘Monkeygate’ controversy when Steve Bucknor was reluctantly replaced by Billy Bowden for the third Test in Perth. Some Pakistani outlets reported that the PCB was now seeking face-saving measures, including a request for former West Indies captain Ritchie Richardson to officiate their remaining matches in place of the 69-year-old Pycroft. PCB’s strained relationship with Pycroft is not new. The former Zimbabwe batter previously reported some of their players — including Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez — for suspect bowling actions. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s pre-match press conference ahead of their must-win clash against UAE in Dubai was cancelled without explanation, adding to the intrigue. Their training session at the ICC Academy, however, went ahead as planned, overlapping with India’s session on Monday evening. Both teams trained on the same campus but on separate grounds. Pakistan now find themselves in a do-or-die situation. A defeat to a charged-up UAE side could see them crash out early. They are currently second in the standings with two points from their first two matches — one win and one loss — holding a slim edge over their rivals. Pakistan’s reported threat to pull out from the Asia Cup won’t be particularly easy to carry out, as any such move could result in a revenue loss of anything between $12 to $16 million for the country. Five Test-playing nations — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan — earn 15% each, constituting 75% of the ACC’s annual revenue. The remaining 25% is shared by associate nations.