Pakistan threaten to boycott their next Asia Cup 2025 match against UAE: Report

The Pakistan Cricket Board has been miffed by India's actions of not shaking hands with its players during the Asia Cup 2025 clash on Sunday, September 14. After Pakistan were handed a drubbing at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, India captain Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Shivam Dube made their way back to the Indian dressing room without the customary handshakes with the opposition players due to the political tensions between the two nations.

The Pakistan Board had lodged a complaint to the Asian Cricket Council for the Indian players refusing a handshake and has even demanded the ICC for the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from the panel of referees for the Asia Cup 2025. 

"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," PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said in a social media post.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Board has also threatened a boycott of its next Asia Cup match against the UAE if Pycroft is not removed. Meanwhile, Pycroft is also the match referee for the Pakistan vs UAE game on September 17 in Dubai.

The PCB stated that the match referee, Pycroft, asked the Pakistan captain, Salman Agha, not to shake hands with his Indian counterpart, Suryakumar Yadav, at the toss. The Board feels he was biased in his behaviour. 

Pakistan also lodged a complaint against the Indian players for the no-handshake incident. "Team manager Naveed Cheema lodged a strong protest against the Indian players' behaviour of not shaking hands. It was deemed as unsporting and against the spirit of the game. As a protest, we did not send our captain to the post-match ceremony,” the statement read according to reports. 

India captain Suryakumar avoided a handshake with Salman at the toss, and then the Indian players also refused to greet the Pakistani players after the match.