Mohsin Naqvi, who first derailed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is now doing his best to manipulate Asian Cricket Council (ACC). The illogical demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft from the remainder of the Asia Cup, which was eventually rejected by the International Cricket Council (ICC), is another testimony of Naqvi’s image of a troublemaker.
The demand from Naqvi, also the ACC president, came a day after the PCB had alleged that Pycroft had “requested the captains not to shake hands at the toss”. The PCB conveyed this demand via a letter addressed to ICC general manager Wasim Khan. The letter stated that Pycroft, at the time of the toss, took Pakistan captain Salman Agha aside and told him there would be no handshakes at the toss. It goes on to say that Pycroft then spoke separately to India captain Suryakumar Yadav.
While this is an ACC tournament where the ICC has no organizational role, the match officials are allocated by the ICC. Withdrawing a match referee and appointing a replacement still required the ICC to get involved.
And, ICC, indeed, responded stating:
“After an internal review, the governing body came to a conclusion that the matter required no further action”.
Sources also revealed to Cricket Age that several Asian Cricket Council officials, including the PCB director, already knew beforehand that no handshake between the two captains was planned.
It is reliably learnt that the situation arose due to PCB’s Director of Cricket Operations Usman Walha, who didn’t apprise his own skipper about the rules and regulations that are to be followed during the tournament.
It is learnt that an irate PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the current chairman of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), ordered the sacking of Walha on Monday (September 15, 2025) 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 caught unawares by the turn of events.
“Walha should have released a statement at the toss itself when the two captains didn’t shake hands. Naqvi apparently was furious as he handled it poorly,” a PCB source said.
As such, this might only have been the first part of an issue that could well come up again next Sunday: Pakistan need to beat the UAE to secure progression to the Super Four, where they will face India in Dubai again on September 21.
Interestingly, Pycroft is due to officiate Pakistan’s final group stage game against the UAE on Wednesday.
The PCB had wanted Pycroft to be removed from the entire tournament but now it would be interesting to see if they continue playing after the ICC, headed by India’s Jay Shah, summarily rejected their demand.
