ICC rejects Pakistan's demand, refuses to remove umpire in 'no handshake' controversy
In the 'no handshake' controversy that arose after the India-Pakistan match, the ICC rejected Pakistan's demand to change the referee and called the allegations baseless.
India vs Pakistan match: After the India-Pakistan match, the 'no handshake' controversy made a lot of headlines in the cricket world. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had demanded the International Cricket Council (ICC) to remove match referee Andy Pycroft in this matter. However, the ICC rejected this demand outright and has also informed the PCB about its decision.
In fact, after the India vs Pakistan match played on 14 September (Sunday), the Indian players avoided shaking hands with the Pakistani players while leaving the field. Pakistan objected to this and lodged an official complaint. At the same time, PCB alleged that during the toss, Andy Pycroft had told Pakistani captain Salman Ali Agha not to shake hands with Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav.
ICC gave clarification, rejected Pakistan's allegations
According to the report, ICC has clarified in its letter that Pycroft was not working on behalf of the Indian team but on the instructions of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). It was the ACC officials who clarified the situation of 'no handshake' during the toss. In this way, Pakistan's allegation that Pycroft worked in favor of India was proved baseless.
PCB filed a complaint, removed the officer
Angry with the 'no handshake' attitude of the Indian players, PCB not only lodged an official complaint but also removed its own officer Usman Wahala (Director of International Cricket Operations) from the post. PCB believes that Usman Wahala could not handle the matter on time and the controversy escalated.
Pakistan's threatening stance
According to reports, PCB had warned ICC that if the referee is not changed then Pakistan team can refuse to play the next match against UAE. Now that ICC has rejected their demand, it will be interesting to see what step captain Salman Ali Agha and his team take next.
Let us tell you that Andy Pycroft has been a part of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees since 2009. He will watch Pakistan's next match in this tournament. The current ICC Elite Panel also includes India's Javagal Srinath, New Zealand's Jeff Crowe and Sri Lanka's Ranjan Madugalle.
