The Asia Cup is a biennial cricket tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council. The competition is contested by Asian members' senior men's national cricket teams. This determines the continental champion of Asia.
One of stand out fixtures will always be when India take on Pakistan. Despite national board tensions, this tie always takes place. Usually, there aren't any external talking points; only on what happened on the field.
This time is different. A whole magnitude of events happened that has made the pundits talk more of those issues rather than the match itself.
The India vs Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup 2025 failed to spark interest from the cricketing point of view as Suryakumar Yadav's side completely overwhelmed the opponents on Sunday.
Andy Pycroft made the headlines after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) demanded his immediate removal from the Asia Cup 2025. Pycroft was the match referee of the India vs Pakistan match on 14 September.
The PCB alleged that Pycroft didn't take any action against India after Suryakumar Yadav and his boys had refused to shake hands with Pakistani players. Now, a post by an X user called Andy Pycroft has gone viral.
"I stand by every decision that I took yesterday. Pakistan players have had a history of bringing disrepute to the game of cricket, be it Hafeez and Ajmal in past (reported for chucking by me) or the current bunch of players like Faheem and Abrar. So I had to take precautions," says the tweet.
The tweet has attached a news update about the PCB warning the ICC that Pakistan would no longer participate in the Asia Cup 2025 if Andy Pycroft was not removed. The tweet has gone viral with nearly 2 million views. The post was shared on 15 September at 17:00 soon after the PCB appeal had made news.
Many social media users reacted to the post. "I second Mr Andy Pycroft. Way to go," posted one of them.
"Pakistan talking about the spirit of cricket whilst sponsoring terrorism is the most hypocritical thing ever," commented another.
Another user wrote, "The history of Pakistan cricket is dotted with controversies, whether it was Hafeez and Ajmal before (reported for chucking by me) or the present crop of players like Faheem and Abrar."
"Well done, Andy. India is with you," came from another. "Now that they'll be eliminated, they want to withdraw?" wondered another.
Contrary to what most X users are assuming, the social media account does not seem to belong to the match referee. The user has 1 536 followers on X. While the account mostly posts on cricket, the user’s previous posts include takes on spiritual guru, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh and YouTuber, Raj shamani.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has since rejected the PCB's demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft from the panel of officials for the Asia Cup 2025.
The Indian players' refusal to exchange handshakes with their Pakistani counterparts after an Asia Cup clash in Dubai on Sunday snowballed into a major controversy. Following the "no handshake" gate, an irate PCB sought the removal of match referee, Andy Pycroft, holding him responsible for the fiasco that stirred fresh tensions between the two arch-rivals.
According to news agency, PTI, the PCB had filed a complaint with the ICC, alleging that Pycroft asked Pakistan captain, Salman Ali Agha, at the time of the toss, not to shake hands with his Indian counterpart, Suryakumar Yadav, during their Asia Cup match on Sunday.
"Late last night, ICC had sent a reply to PCB stating that Pycroft won't be removed and their plea has been rejected," an ICC source told PTI.
Pakistan team manager Naved Cheema also filed a complaint with the Asian Cricket Council, alleging that it was on Pycroft's insistence that team sheets weren't exchanged between the two skippers on Sunday, as is the norm.
Pycroft is one of the senior-most match referees in the ICC Elite Panel with 695 international games to his credit (men and women across three formats).
It is reliably learnt that the situation arose due to PCB's Director of Cricket Operations, Usman Walha, who failed to apprise his own captain about the rules and regulations to be followed during the tournament.
It is learnt that PCB chie,f Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the current chairman of the Asian Cricket Council, ordered the sacking of Walha on Monday for the embarrassment caused to the national cricket team and its captain.
According to well-placed sources, it was Walha's duty to inform Salman about the "No Handshake" policy but he didn't do so and the Pakistan skipper was apparently blindsided.
It's understood that the PCB is trying to work out a respectable solution by which Pycroft doesn't officiate in their matches.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube walked off the field without shaking hands with their Pakistani counterparts or the opposition support staff, which is customary. As Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, his team-mates and coach Mike Hesson made their way towards the Indian dressing room, they found the door shut, much to their displeasure.
In the post-match presentation, Suryakumar Yadav expressed solidarity with Pahalgam terror attack victims and dedicated the win to the Indian Armed Forces, most notably the launch of Operation Sindoor in the aftermath of April's Pahalgam terror attacks.
"Just wanted to say something. Perfect occasion, taking the time out, we stand by the families of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. We express our solidarity. Want to dedicate the win to all our armed forces who showed a lot of bravery. Hope they continue to inspire us all, and we give them more reasons on the ground whenever we get an opportunity to make them smile," Suryakumar said after the win in the post-match interview.
In the press-conference that followed, on being asked on handshake being against the spirit of the game, Suryakumar replied, "I feel a few things in life are ahead of sportsman spirit. I have told it at the presentation as well. We stand with all the victims of the Pahalagam terror attack. We stand with their families also and express our solidarity. As I said, we dedicate this win to our brave armed forces who took part in Operation Sindoor. As they continue to inspire us all, we will try our best to, whenever given the opportunity, inspire them as well if possible."
As Suryakumar Yadav made his speech in the post-match ceremony and Kuldeep Yadav took the Player of the Match cheque, Pakistan captain, Agha chose not to attend the presentation. In the press conference that followed, head coach, Mike Hesson, came after a lengthy delay. During the presser, Hesson broke the silence about Salman's absence while expressing his disappointment with India refraining from engaging in the customary handshake. Hesson didn't directly pin Salman's absence due to the incident that took place after the match but alluded to it obliquely.
"We were ready to shake hands. We are obviously disappointed that our opposition did not do that. We sort of went over there to shake hands, but they had already gone to the changing room. That was a disappointing way for the match to finish. We were willing to shake hands. We were keen to shake hands at the end of the match, but that did not happen, and that was pretty much the end of it," Hesson said.
The emotions surrounding India's encounter with its arch-rival, Pakistan, are mixed. While some have suggested the game must go on, the other half has called for a boycott of the fixture. The anger over India facing Pakistan in the tournament stems from the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, during which 26 tourists were killed on April 22 by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists.
As per a report, it was India head coach, Gautam Gambhir, who came up with the handshake snub idea. Gambhir reportedly advised the Indian players against engaging in a handshake with the Pakistani players and also asked them not to have any verbal exchanges with the archrivals, according to a report in Telecom Asia Sport.
The talks of 'boycott' ahead of the match had even entered the Indian dressing room, prompting the likes of Suryakumar and others to approach Gambhir and other members of the support staff with their concerns. Gambhir reportedly told the players to cut down on social media and just focus on playing the game
"Cut down on social media, stop reading the noise. Your job is to play for India. Don't forget what happened in Pahalgam. Don't shake hands, don't engage — just go out, show your best, and win for India," Gambhir said, the report claimed.
Gambhi also spoke to the broadcaster of the Asia Cup 2025 in India about the game, echoing Suryakumar's words on the importance of the no-handshake gesture. "Good win. There is still a lot of cricket left in this tournament. This match was important as we wanted to show solidarity with the victims and their families and what they went through during the Pahalgam attack. More importantly, we want to thank the Indian army for their successful Operation Sindoor. We will try to make our country proud and happy."
The Pakistan team stood for a couple of minutes before heading back, only to see their coach race towards India’s changing room but by then, the doors were locked.
A visibly frustrated Hesson held a long discussion with match referee Andy Pycroft. Pakistan’s captain Salman Ali Agha even skipped the post-match presentation in protest, with the team later issuing a statement alleging that “the behaviour of Indian players was against the spirit of sportsmanship.”
Former Pakistan player, Basit Ali took a harsh jibe at the Indian cricket team for the act. "This is Asia Cup. There will be an ICC event, for say World Cup. Whenever there is no handshake there, what will the head of ICC do? Because he is an Indian. Jay Shah. This is a matter of thought. Will you become a hero by avoiding handshake? No, the ones who know cricket, write about it, understand it, will never appretiate such things. Not only a Pakistani, even an Australian or somebody from England won't appreciate it," said Basit during a discussion in a Pakistani channel.
The ICC Preamble – Spirit of Cricket, included in the T20I Playing Conditions, states: “Congratulate the opposition on their success, and enjoy those of your own team. Thank the officials and your opposition at the end of the match, whatever the result.” Article 2.1.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct lists “conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game” as a Level 1 offence.
I fully believe that outside turmoil shouldn't mix with a sporting event. As it has been seen, it causes nothing but trouble. In the sporting world, athletes should put their beliefs to the side. The players played no part in the attacks. Ergo, they shouldn't be treated as one of the attackers.
I do understand, though, that everyone needs to stick with their belief. All the power to them. However, there should never be an instance where that belief crosses paths with an event that can put that belief to the tes