Sports desk48 minutes ago
- Copy link
In the Asia Cup, ICC’s match referee Andy Picroft is surrounded by controversies these days.
ICC’s match referee Andy Picroft told Pakistan 4 minutes before the toss that Team India would not join hands with them. On September 14, the ACC media manager told him not joining hands on 14 September. He also gave the same message to the Pakistan team.
After the match, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had complained to the ICC to the Pikeroft. PCB had said that the referee has violated the ICC Code of Conduct by going against the sportsmanship. The board had also demanded the removal of Picroft.
PCB also played a match against UAE with a delay of 1 hour to demand the removal of the referee. After which the ICC has written an e-mail to the Pakistani Board and said that the team has violated the rules.
Picroft said- It was no time to tell ICC According to ESPN Cricinfo report, before the toss of the India-Pakistan match on Sunday, the ACC venue manager told Picroft that India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav would not join hands with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Aga. BCCI has informed ACC about this. Which was able to tell Pakistan about 4 minutes before the picroft toss.
PCB officials said that this demand of India was against sportsmanship. Picroft should have complained about this. In response, the match referee said that he did not have time to complain in the ICC. If there was time, I would definitely talk to the ICC on this.
The ICC also did not consider Pycroft’s decision against the rules. He had the right to take a decision as a match referee, he informed the Pakistan team about India’s decision only in view of the situation.
PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi had held a press conference during the match with UAE that the team will continue to play the Asia Cup after the match referee apologized.
Controversy increased before the match against UAE The India-Pakistan match took place on 14 September. Here Indian players did not join hands with Pakistani players. In protest against which Salman did not come to give an interview. Pakistan’s next match was to be held from UAE on 17 September, but the team complained to the ICC that the referee be removed.
PCB even said that the team would withdraw from the Asia Cup if the pikeroft is not removed. On the day of the match, PCB officials interacted with ICC and Match Referee. Due to which the match starting at 8 pm could start an hour late. Pakistan easily won the match and also entered the Super-4 round. The match referee was Picroft.
PCB then claimed that Pycroft had apologized to the team and the captain. For this reason, the team will play their last group match. However, sources said that Pycroft did not apologize for any mistake, but told the Pakistan team as to why they had given information 4 minutes before the toss.
During the match against UAE, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Aga decided to play the match after talking to team manager Naved Akram Cheema.
What happened before the UAE match? PCB threatened to withdraw from the Asia Cup before the match against UAE. The Government of Pakistan advised that the team will not play the match until the pikeroft is removed. Pakistan practiced on Tuesday on the advice of PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, but no one arrived for a press conference from the team.
On Wednesday, a video call was talked about on the match between PCB and ICC officials. PCB demanded the removal of Picroft, but the ICC refused. Nearly 5.30 pm, once again talked on the video call. During this time, Pakistani players refused to go out of the hotel.
PCB Chief Naqvi then spoke to former Chief Najam Sethi and Rameez Raja. After the last conversation with the ICC at around 6.40 pm, the board decided that their team would play the match with UAE. The Pakistan team reached the stadium at around 7 pm, where Pycroft spoke to the Pakistani team, captain and head coach. After which the match could start at 9 pm.
Pakistan team defeated UAE by 41 runs and made it to the Super-4 stage.
ICC gave Warning to PCB After losing to India, PCB complained to ICC general manager Wasim Khan. The board had said that ICC should appoint a neutral match referee in big matches. The ICC had said in response to this that there was no mistake by Picroft. So the match referee will not be changed.
After the entire controversy, the ICC sent a warning e-mail to PCB on Thursday. In this, the ICC said that the Pakistan team violated the rules before the match against UAE. The board also shared some visuals of the meeting on social media, which they did not have permission.