The Pakistan Cricket Board has now responded to the decision taken by the Indian players not to shake hands with the Pakistani players during the Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan.
Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Asian Cricket Council, issued a message stating that steps have been taken to file a complaint with the ICC regarding the incident.
Accordingly, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman has requested the ICC to remove Andy Pycroft, who acted as the match referee, from the Asia Cup with immediate effect.
Pakistan points out that the match referee had told the two captains not to shake hands when the toss was drawn.
“The PCB has filed a complaint with the ICC regarding the violation of the ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC Rules regarding the life of cricket,” Mohsin Naqvi X said in a message.
“The PCB has demanded the immediate removal of the match referee from the Asia Cup tournament.” Although some media reports have also warned that Pakistan will withdraw from this year’s Asia Cup if the match referee is not removed from the tournament, the Cricinfo website has reported that the Pakistan Cricket Board has not yet reached such a position.
The Indian players took steps to not shake the hands of the Pakistani players after the match, and then in response, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha boycotted the prize-giving ceremony held after the match.
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav expressed this opinion to the media regarding this incident.
“We have decided that we are here to play. We have given a befitting reply. We stand with the BCCI and the government. I think there are some things in life that are more important than sportsmanship. I said this in the presentation as well. We stand with all the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
“We stand with their families and express our solidarity. As I said, we dedicate this victory to our brave armed forces who participated in “Operation Sindoor”. They continue to inspire us all, so we will do our best to inspire them whenever we get the chance.”
If Pakistan and India qualify for the Super Four, the two teams are scheduled to meet again on the 21st of this month.
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