Asia Cup 2025: Andy Pycroft cleared in investigation, ICC notifies PCB

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that it cannot remove match referee Andy Pycroft from the panel of match referees for the ongoing Asia Cup as its investigation found no error on his part.

This entire event rooted from when the PCB lodged an official complaint to the ICC to penalise and remove Pycroft from the panel of match referees after members of the Indian team refused to conduct handshakes at the toss and after the recent match on Sunday, September 14. 

However, ICC has communicated with the PCB that there has been no wrongdoing on part of the match referee, as per Cricbuzz. The ICC communique acknowledged that the global administrative body conducted its own inquiry and gave a judgement that Pycroft actually helped prevent an embarrassment for Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Ali Agha by informing them to avoid handshakes after the toss.

Contrary to multiple reports, the ICC stressed that Pycroft had not violated any sort of match protocol through his decision. The body also conceded that the PCB was well within its right to complaint. However, they found that Pycroft was not to be blamed. It also clarified that the appointment of match officials is a decision centralised by the ICC and cannot be determined or influenced by its member boards.

The ICC made it clear that bending the rules under pressure could have set a wrong precedent. The chairperson of the PCB Mohsin Naqvi announced on social media that the board instructed the team to head to the venue after earlier reports that the team will not participate in the clash against hosts United Arab Emirates on Thursday, September 17.

Pycroft, who stayed as the referee for the Pakistan-UAE clash eventually, termed the no-handshake episode as "miscommunication" and apologised to Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, coach Mike Hesson and team manager Naveed Cheema in a meeting at the Dubai International Stadium.