The International Cricket Council (ICC) has as soon as again assigned the high-voltage India-Pakistan Asia Cup Super 4s sport on Sunday to its Elite Panel Match Referee Andy Pycroft regardless of PCB’s repeated requests to strike him off the roster.
“Andy Pycroft is the match referee for Indo-Pak game,” a match supply advised PTI.
The checklist of match officers for the Sunday’s sport hasn’t but been made public. The different match referee within the match is former West Indies captain Richie Richardson.
Pycroft was the match referee on September 14, 2025, when the Indian crew did not shake fingers with the Pakistan crew however the Zimbabwean discovered himself within the centre of the controversy after India skipper Suryakumar Yadav did not observe the conference on the toss.
The Pakistan crew had written two emails to ICC, first requesting Pycroft’s removing from the match after which asking the worldwide physique to take away him from their video games.
Both the calls for have been outrightly rejected by the ICC because 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 handed on what was conveyed to him from the designated Venue Manager of Asian Cricket Council.
He might solely move on the message as there have been solely jiffy left for the match to start.
The ICC later organized a gathering between Pycroft and Pakistan crew administration comprising captain Salman, head coach Mike Hesson and supervisor Naveed Akram Cheema the place he mentioned that he “regretted the miscommunication”.
The ICC, then in one other e-mail, identified that Pycroft by no means apologised however solely “regretted the miscommunication” and likewise accused PCB of violating protocols associated to ‘Players And Match Officials Area’ (PMOA), which the latter denied.
In this backdrop, appointing Pycroft for one other Indo-Pak sport is a transparent indication that the worldwide physique does not need to budge from its stand as eradicating the previous Zimbabwe Test batter would have set a improper precedent.
