Pakistan Cricket Board To Decide Asia Cup Fate In Late-Night Meeting: Report

Pakistan Cricket Board weighs Asia Cup participation amidst India handshake controversy, Mohsin Naqvi consults government as team awaits directions in Dubai.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is all set to take a final decision on their Asia Cup participation in a meeting that took place late on Tuesday night, according to a report in Cricbuzz. They are supposed to play hosts UAE in their final group stage game on Wednesday evening.

After the International Cricket Council turned down the Pakistan Cricket Board’s request to remove Andy Pycroft from the match referees’ panel for the Asia Cup over the handshake controversy, the latter has issued conflicting signals.

For most of the day, the PCB claimed that it was unaware of the International Cricket Council’s rejection of its demand and chose to remain tight-lipped.

As the full 15-member Pakistan team trained hard in the sweltering Dubai heat, the report suggests that off the field, they were waiting for directions from the Pakistan Cricket Board headquarters in Lahore.

The report states that the PCB convened a late-night meeting on Tuesday after its chief, Mohsin Naqvi, returned to Lahore from Islamabad, where he had consulted with the government regarding the team’s continued participation in the Asia Cup.

Though Naqvi’s trip to Islamabad as a government minister should have been routine, the report noted that this visit was to discuss the handshake controversy, its fallout and the standoff with the International Cricket Council over Pycroft, appointed as match referee for Wednesday’s game.

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav defended his team’s stance after their seven-wicket victory over Pakistan on Sunday, September 14, saying that it was intended as a show of solidarity with the families of the Pahalgam terror attack victims, where 26 people were killed by Pakistan-backed militants.

This came after the team faced intense backlash for playing against their traditional rivals. In response, the Pakistan Cricket Board lodged a complaint with the ACC and sought the intervention of the ICC.

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