Will they? Won’t they? The guesswork continued for the last few days as there was a lot of uncertainty regarding Pakistan’s participation in the ongoing Asia Cup. To make matters worse, the side decided against boarding the team bus to the stadium for their match against UAE at the scheduled time and an eventful day of dialogue between Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meant the start of the match was delayed by an hour.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!But when the two captains finally lined-up for the toss, match referee Andy Pycroft – the hottest keyword in the last four days – was in position before the coin got a flip. A lot of drama, plenty of emails, phone calls, negotiations and allegations preceded Pakistan-UAE toss as Mohsin Naqvi-led PCB were adamant on getting Pycroft removed from the roster because of violation of code of conduct. In its first email written to the global cricket body on September 15, a day after the India-Pakistan game, the PCB mentioned an “incident” – read toss – where code of conduct wasn’t followed. They questioned the role of match referee Pycroft as the two captains Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Agha didn’t shake hands. ICC immediately agreed to look into the matter and after doing its due and thorough diligence, a response was sent to the PCB stating Pycroft performed his duty well and didn’t violate any code of conduct.
Pakistan captain Salman Agha, UAE captain Muhammad Waseem and match referee Andy Pycroft at the toss. (Video grab)
It was further communicated that he was following the instructions he got from the ACC, chaired by Naqvi, regarding no handshake at toss. The ICC further highlighted that Pycroft handled the situation well and ensured there was no awkward situation on live television. The PCB, however, didn’t seem satisfied with the response and responded with the demand of Pycroft’s removal from the roster. They added that they would withdraw from the tournament if Pycroft is not removed from Pakistan’s matches.ICC stood ground and reiterated that Pycroft is not guilty of any code of conduct violation, and asserted they can’t change officials as per the demands of any team as it would set a dangerous precedent. When PCB’s withdrawal threat didn’t work, the ACC also got involved with the same request but ICC didn’t budge from its stance.As far as the men handling the communication from the Dubai office were concerned, the Pycroft chapter was closed on September 16 only but a fresh email from the PCB on September 17 gave a different angle. For the first two days – September 15 and September 16 – all the chatter was around the conduct at toss but on September 17, PCB said there were code of conduct violations during and after the India vs Pakistan match, and again questioned Pycroft’s role. In response, the ICC asked PCB for more information and are yet to get a revert. Amid all the drama, Pycroft came up with a suggestion and called for a meeting with Pakistan captain Agha and manager Naveed Akram Cheema. It was also attended by coach Mike Hesson in the match referee room and Pycroft is learnt to have spoken to the Pakistan camp regarding the possible miscommunication which happened. Was this done to issue an apology, as the PCB statement claims? “There was no question of any apology. Especially from someone who did no wrong,” says a well-placed source. A video of the meeting is also doing rounds but the audio has been conveniently muted.Six emails, a lot of chatter but the only thing which changed was the start time of the Pakistan-UAE contest. Pycroft officiated the fixture and is set to continue doing that for the remainder of the tournament. What next for PCB? They first need to respond to ICC with more information as their previous claims have clearly fallen flat.
