Former chairman of the Pakistani cricket council (PCB) Ramiz Raja made a bizarre claim concerning ICC referee Andy Pycroft and challenged his neutrality after the controversial Handshake series in Asia Cup. Raja spoke at a press conference in Lahore and claimed that Pycroft was “accessories” in Indian matches. “It is interesting (…) Andy Pycroft is popular (for Indians). Whenever I host throwing, there is always permanent accessories,” he said.
Raja also claimed that Pycroft worked in more than 90 matches concerning India. “This is obvious to me, because although I thought he decided several matches, statistics seem to show something unilateral. It should not be as follows. This is a neutral platform, and therefore there are officials and officials.
Raja, who spoke together with PCB chairman Naqvi, added that Pycroft’s record shows clear protectionism and called him “Indian favorite referee match”.
PCB said pycroft apologized The leadership of the leadership of India and Pakistan captains from the leadership to shake hands on throwing in Dubai on September 14th. However, the ICC source explained that the apology was only for “incorrect communication” and not for Handshake Snub, which was initiated by Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav. Sources proposed incorrect communication stems from events in throwing, where both captains skipped the usual handshake.
Initially, Pakistan threatened to withdraw from his final group and match against UAE after ICC refused his request to remove Pycroft from the office. The team turned their decision just hours before throwing and continued the game after causing a one -hour delay. Pycroft eventually joined the match And he supervised the throwing that Pakistan Captain Salman Ali Agha lost.
The Pakistani Council claimed that the Zimbabwa official admitted that his intervention was based on “incorrect communication” and apologized to the team manager and Captain Salman Ali Agu. “The ICC controversial referee, Andy Pycroft, apologized to the manager and captain of the Pakistanic cricket team. Andy Pycroft banned the captains of both teams during the Indian-Pakistani match,” PCB said in Post X, formerly Twitter.
The PCB also said ICC would explore a complaint against the 69 -year -old Pycroft, a former cricket Zimbabwe, who has been working in more than 200 games since entering the Elite ICC panel. “ICC expressed its readiness to explore the violation of the Code of behavior during the match 14th September,” PCB said.
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Published:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
September 18, 2025
