Dubai: The deadlock over the participation of the Pakistan team in the Asia Cup continues. The Pakistan Cricket Board has stopped the team from playing today’s match against UAE.
Sources say that, for now, the Pakistan cricket team’s departure from the hotel to the stadium has been halted.
According to sources, the Pakistan cricket team has been told to stay in the hotel, and the players have been instructed to go to their rooms.
Sources say that the matter can be resolved if match referee Andy Pycroft apologizes.
According to sources, upon Andy Pycroft’s apology, the Pakistan team may consider playing today’s match against UAE.
Sources say that high-level consultations are ongoing within the Pakistan Cricket Board. PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, Salman Naseer, and other officials are present in the meeting.
The match between Pakistan and UAE is scheduled to be held today at the Dubai Stadium. This match is to be played at 7:30 PM Pakistan time.
It should be noted that the Pakistan Cricket Board has not yet received any response from the ICC regarding the removal of Andy Pycroft.
The PCB has not received any confirmation from the ICC about the change of referee, and sources say that if the referee’s replacement is not confirmed, the Pakistan team will not leave for the stadium.
According to sources, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is in constant contact with PCB officials, and the team will only go to the stadium once an official email from ICC confirming the referee’s change is received.
What was the dispute?
On Sunday, during the toss at the Pakistan-India match, Andy Pycroft told Pakistan’s captain Salman Agha that there would be no handshake at the toss.
Earlier, Andy Pycroft had told Pakistan’s media manager that this should not be recorded.
At the end of the match, manager Naveed Akram Cheema expressed his concerns to tournament director Andrew Russell, who said they had received instructions from the Indian board and later said that these were actually instructions from the Indian government.
Pakistan, reacting strongly to the behavior during the match against India, decided that it would not play further Asia Cup matches if referee Andy Pycroft is not replaced.
