The International Cricket Council (ICC) has once again assigned the high-voltage India-Pakistan Asia Cup Super Four game on Sunday to its Elite Panel Match Referee Andy Pycroft despite PCB's repeated requests to strike him off the roster. "Andy Pycroft is the match referee for Indo-Pak game," a tournament source told PTI.
The list of match officials for the Sunday's game hasn't yet been made public. The other match referee in the tournament is former West Indies captain Richie Richardson.
Pycroft was the match referee last Sunday when Indian team as a policy decision, didn't shake hands with the Pakistan team but the Zimbabwean found himself in the centre of the controversy after India skipper Suryakumar Yadav didn't follow the convention at the toss. The Pakistan team had written two mails to ICC, first requesting Pycroft's removal from the tournament and then asking the global body to remove him from their games.
Both the demands were outrightly rejected by the ICC as it stood firmly behind its Elite Panel referee. The ICC rejected PCB's claims that Pycroft violated the 'Spirit of the Game' code, insisting that he was merely a messenger, who passed on what was conveyed to him from the designated Venue Manager of Asian Cricket Council. He could only pass on the message as there were only few minutes left for the match to begin.
The ICC later arranged a meeting between Pycroft and Pakistan team management comprising captain Salman Ali Agha, head coach Mike Hesson and manager Naveed Akram Cheema where he said that he "regretted the miscommunication". The ICC, then in another e-mail, pointed out that Pycroft never apologised but only "regretted the miscommunication" and also accused PCB of violating protocols related to 'Players And Match Officials Area' (PMOA), which the latter denied.
In this backdrop, appointing Pycroft for another Indo-Pak game is a clear indication that the global body doesn't want to budge from its stand as removing the former Zimbabwe Test batter would have set a wrong precedent.
Pakistan skip media interaction again
Meanwhile, Pakistan team management has decided not to interact with media ahead of the Super Four contest. "Pakistan have once again cancelled pre match presser conference in order to avoid questions on Pycroft appointment and no handshake controversy," a tournament source said.
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