By Megha Mallick,News18

Copyright news18

The BCCI has denied Pakistan’s claims that match referee Andy Pycroft asked the team captains not to shake hands at the toss, according to a report in The Indian Express. The aforementioned claim from the Pakistan Cricket Board has caused a lot of uproar in the last 24 hours.
As per the Indian camp, the decision not to shake hands was already taken in light of the recent Pahalgam terror attack.
The Pakistan Cricket Board, on the other hand, alleged that Pycroft informed both skippers at the toss that handshakes would be skipped, under advice from BCCI.
“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,” ACC and PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi had tweeted on Monday.
PCB was referring to Article 2.1.1 in the manual for match officials, which says that sanctions might be imposed in case their actions go against the spirit of the game.
Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav came for the toss, already resolved that he wouldn’t shake hands with his Pakistan counterpart Salman Ali Agha.
“I feel a few things, a few things in life, are ahead of sportsmen’s spirit also,” Suryakumar said while speaking at the post-match press conference.
But Pycroft telling the skippers not to shake hands gives a new twist to the narrative, if Pakistan’s allegations are considered.
“We were ready to shake hands at the end of the game. We are disappointed that our opposition didn’t do that. We went over there to shake hands, but they had already gone into the changing room,” Pakistan coach Mike Hesson said.
The Salman-led team is supposed to play the UAE on Wednesday.