The International Cricket Council (ICC) has had enough of the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) drama over the match referee Andy Pycroft incident. The ICC has now reprimanded the PCB for multiple breaches of conduct and the Asia Cup 2025 event rules ahead of their final Group A clash on September 17 against the UAE in Dubai. The Men in Green were apparently instructed by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi not to leave for the stadium for the clash unless they were instructed, as they were protesting against the World's body rejection of their demand to suspend Pycroft.
While the issue was resolved and Pakistan went on to play their game against the UAE, the off-field drama continued as PCB on their social media account uploaded a mute video. In the clip, Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson, skipper Salman Agha, Pycroft, and a PCB official were seen. The board even claimed that the match referee had apologized to Salman over the handshake controversy. While PCB's earlier official email to remove the Zimbabwe-born match official was rejected, they sent another email on the eve of their clash against the UAE.
Also Read: "Play Cricket, Not Politics!" Kapil Dev Rips Into Pakistan Over Handshake Drama
Not only that, but PCB also conducted an elaborate meeting, comprising Naqvi and his PCB successors Najam Sethi and Ramiz Raja, which caused a one-hour delay in the start of Pakistan's final group-stage match. According to a PTI report, ICC also sent an email to PCB right before the start of the game on September 17, citing "misconduct" and "multiple violations" of the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) protocol.
"The ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta has written to the PCB stating that the board has been guilty of repeated PMOA violations on match day. PCB is in receipt of the e-mail," a tournament source told the news agency.
Despite several warnings, PCB still filmed the meeting with Pycroft
The report further stated that despite ICC's multiple warnings to Pakistan of the breach in conduct, PCB allowed media manager Naeem Gillani to film the meeting. ICC had earlier issued a stern warning that media persons are not allowed in such meetings. The report also said that in order to reach a middle ground on September 17, amid PCB's boycott threat of the Asia Cup, the ICC agreed to PCB's final demand that Pycroft would meet skipper Agha and manager before the toss.
"PCB brought to the meeting their media manager and insisted that he be present during the conversation," he added. Naeem was refused entry by the ICC Anti-Corruption Manager because "he wanted to take his mobile phone into the PMOA".
Also Read: Asia Cup 2025: Pakistan joins India in Super 4s; IND vs PAK clash yet again in Dubai
PCB also threatened to pull out of the clash against the UAE when Naeam was not allowed to film the meeting, and then insisted on filming the chat, albeit with no audio, which was also a violation of the PMOA regulations.
"The ICC, in order to preserve the interest of the sport, the tournament and the stakeholders involved, accepted PCB's asks although this demonstrated a complete disregard for the sanctity of the PMOA, where the meeting took place," the source said.
Also Read: Asia Cup 2025: Pakistan leaks mute video claiming Andy Pycroft apologised to Salman Agha
ICC was not aware that PCB would upload the mute clip on the social media handles, sparking speculations. However, the Apex body clarified that it merely expressed regret over a miscommunication, thus contradicting PCB's claim.
