The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday lodged a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) regarding “violations by the match referee of the ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC Laws pertaining to the Spirit of Cricket”.
The national cricket board has demanded an immediate removal of the match referee from the Asia Cup.
Match referee for the high-voltage Pakistan-India clash on Sunday was Andy Pycroft, who reportedly asked Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha not to shake hands with Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav at the time of the toss.
Pakistan blamed the India side and also alleged match referee Pycroft told captain Salman not to shake the hand of the India skipper before the game, AFP reported. There was no handshake between the captains.
‘Cheap theatrics won’t heal war wounds’: Pakistan lambasts Indian cricketers for politicising sports
Pakistani authorities have also taken the Indian players to task for dragging politics into sports as the latter refused to shake hands with Pakistan players right after winning the Asia Cup 2025 Group A match on Sunday at the Dubai cricket stadium.
Addressing the presentation ceremony, Indian skipper Suryakumar also dedicated the victory to their armed forces and victims of Pahalgam attack, which India has blamed Pakistan of orchestrating without furnishing any evidence despite Islamabad’s repeatedly ensuring of full cooperation and offering for a neutral investigation into the false flag terrorist attack in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir earlier this year.
Following that Indian forces had also attacked on civilian population in Pakistan but Pakistan armed forces’ response made India to bite the dust.
The hostilities in May this year left more than 70 people dead in missile, drone and artillery exchanges, before a US-brokered ceasefire took place.
“We stand with the victims of the families of the Pahalgam terror attack and we express our solidarity,” Suryakumar said. “We want to dedicate today’s win to the armed forces.”
The statement came after India beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the Asia Cup as the neighbours met on the cricket pitch for the first time since a military conflict between them in May.
“Utterly disappointing to witness the lack of sportsmanship today,” said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). Dragging politics into the game goes against the very spirit of sports, he added, hoping that future victories are celebrated by all teams with grace.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif wondered how Team India had brought cricket to such a low level. “Loss of face and international humiliation suffered by India in the the recent conflict cannot be compensated by such shabby and petty attempts,” he wrote in a post on X.
He further stated wounds inflicted by Pakistan armed forces and loss of the Indian Air Force (IAF) planes, including mighty Rafales would not heal by such cheap theatrics.