Escalating the ongoing Asia Cup’s no-handshake intrigue, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi, through an X post that he later deleted, said that they have lodged a formal complaint against match referee Andy Pycroft with the ICC as the official had requested the captains “not to shake hands during the toss” of the India-Pakistan encounter on Sunday. Sources in the Indian team said no such instruction was conveyed to them by the match referee.
“The PCB has lodged a complaint with the ICC regarding violations by the Match Referee of the ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC Laws pertaining to the Spirit of Cricket. The PCB has demanded an immediate removal of the Match Referee from the Asia Cup,” Naqvi, who is also the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), had said in the post.
The PCB alleged that Pycroft had violated the ICC Code of Conduct. The board was referring to Article 2.1.1 in the manual for match officials and match official support personnel, which stipulates that “the article is intended to cover all types of conduct of a minor nature that is contrary to the spirit of the game and which is not specifically and adequately covered by the specific offences set out elsewhere in this Code of Conduct. The spirit of the game may be defined by reference to the Preamble to the Laws of Cricket and involves respect for, amongst others, (a) the role of the umpires and (b) the game and its traditional values.”
Shaking hands is an age-old practice, scrapped only during the pandemic years. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav came for the toss, already resolved that he would not shake hands with Salman Ali Agha, his Pakistani counterpart. This was a decision keeping in mind the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, their families and the soldiers who are part of Operation Sindoor.
“I feel a few things, few things in life, are ahead of sportsmen’s spirit also,” Surya said at the press conference after the match. He didn’t shake hands with the opponents after winning the game as well.
However, Pycroft allegedly telling the captains not to shake hands gives a new twist to the narrative. Pakistan coach Mike Hesson had said, “We were ready to shake hands at the end of the game. We are disappointed that our opposition did not do that. We went over there to shake hands but they had already gone into the changing room.”
Reactions and fallout
Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez posted a broken heart emoji with the word “sportsmanship”. Social media denizens have fished out old pictures of Virat Kohli chatting heartily with Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan mid-match; Shaheen Afridi congratulating Jasprit Bumrah on the birth of his baby, Indian players celebrating Babar’s birthday in his room, and other thumbnail snapshots of the camaraderie between players of the two countries in the past.
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How the incident affects the tournament – banking so much on India-Pakistan encounters – remains to be seen. They could potentially meet twice more in the tournament. If Pakistan beat UAE and qualify for the Super Four, the neighbours could meet again next Sunday in Dubai. If both finish as the top two in the table, they would feature in the final the Sunday after too.
Over this past week, it has become clear the success of the Asia Cup was going to hinge on the India-Pakistan games. The entire tournament revolved around the two rivals duelling as frequently as possible. The Dubai International Cricket Stadium was not sold out for any of the first two games, despite India and Pakistan featuring separately. The combined attendance barely equalled half of its capacity. However, on Sunday night, it was closer to full capacity.
The large India-Pakistan community in the city has remained largely unaffected by the incidents. Some shrugged it off as political shenanigans; some felt it was shameful, recalling the Sharjah days when cricketers from both sides were competitive on the field but friendly off it. Some rarely bothered.
“We see each other on streets and in the neighbourhood a lot. So we can’t refuse to shake hands,” says Naveen George, a delivery boy with Deliveroo. Over the decades, through periods of war, the migrant communities have largely co-existed peacefully, untouched by cross-border tensions. The antagonism has rarely spilled onto the stands either.
