Senior Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has hit out at Pakistan for unfairly blaming match referee Andy Pycroft over the post-match handshake controversy that erupted following India’s group-stage win in the Asia Cup 2025. Ashwin strongly criticised the Pakistan camp for demanding Pycroft’s removal from the tournament and accused them of creating a needless spectacle after a straightforward cricketing decision.
“Andy Pycroft actually saved everybody from seeing such a poor spectacle,” Ashwin said on his YouTube show ‘Ash Ki Baat’. “India informed the match referee in advance — this is our decision, and we will follow it. That’s it. After all this drama, you lost the match. So what are you complaining about? You didn’t lose because we didn’t shake hands. Please go and find out what you can actually improve.”
Ashwin’s comments come in the wake of Pakistan’s official complaint to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the ICC, asking for Pycroft to be replaced after India’s players opted not to engage in post-match handshakes — a decision reportedly influenced by recent geopolitical tensions following the Pahalgam terrorist attack.
Pakistan further escalated the issue by recording a closed-door meeting with Pycroft — held in the restricted Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) — and leaking the footage online, a move now being investigated by the ICC.
Ashwin found the targeting of Pycroft baffling. “If no handshake was your problem with India, why were you looking for an answer to that problem in the UAE game? Why did you have to make Andy Pycroft the scapegoat? He has done nothing wrong,” he said.
