EXCLUSIVE | Handshake row: Inside details of PCB's emails to ICC, closed door meeting and match referee's non-apology

Will they? Won't they? The guesswork continued for days over Pakistan's participation in the ongoing Asia Cup. To make matters worse, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided against allowing the team to board the bus for the stadium, for their match against UAE, at the final hour. Thus ensued plenty of back-channel talks and an eventful day of dialogue between PCB, International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

PCB president Mohsin Naqvi and Salman Naseer led the negotiations on their behalf while Sanjog Gupta, the ICC CEO, represented the global cricket body in the negotiations.

As a result, the match, due to begin at 6.30pm local time (8:00pm IST), was delayed by an hour.

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But when the two captains finally lined-up for the toss, match referee Andy Pycroft - the hottest keyword in the last four days - was in position before the coin got a flip. A lot of drama, multiple emails, phone calls, negotiations and allegations preceded Pakistan-UAE toss as Mohsin Naqvi-led PCB were adamant on getting Pycroft removed from the roster for violation of Code of Conduct.


In its first email to the ICC on September 15, a day after the India-Pakistan game, the PCB mentioned an "incident" - read toss - where Code of Conduct wasn't followed. They questioned the role of match referee Pycroft as the two captains Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Agha didn't shake hands - as is custom. ICC immediately agreed to look into the matter and after doing its due diligence, a response was sent to the PCB stating Pycroft performed his duty well and didn't violate any code of conduct.

It was further communicated that he was following the instructions he got from the ACC, chaired by Naqvi, regarding no handshake at toss. The ICC further highlighted that Pycroft handled the situation well and ensured there was no awkward situation on live television. The PCB, however, didn't seem satisfied with the response and responded with the demand of Pycroft's removal from the roster. They added that they would withdraw from the tournament if the Zimbabwean official was not removed from Pakistan's matches.

ICC, however, stood its ground and reiterated that Pycroft is not guilty of any code of conduct violation, and asserted they can't change officials as per the demands of any team as it would set a dangerous precedent. When PCB's withdrawal threat didn't work, the ACC also got involved with the same request but ICC didn't budge from its stance once again.

As far as the men handling the communication from the Dubai office were concerned, the Pycroft chapter was closed on September 16 but a fresh email from the PCB on September 17 gave a different angle. For the first two days - September 15 and September 16 - all the chatter was around the conduct at toss but on September 17, PCB said there were code of conduct violations during and after the India vs Pakistan match, and again questioned Pycroft's role. In response, the ICC asked PCB for more information and are yet to get a response.

Amid all the drama, Pycroft came up with a suggestion and called for a meeting with Pakistan captain Agha and manager Naveed Akram Cheema. It was also attended by coach Mike Hesson in the match referee room at the Dubai International Stadium and Pycroft is learnt to have spoken to the Pakistan camp regarding the possible miscommunication which happened. Was this an apology, as the PCB statement claims? "There was no question of any apology. Especially from someone who did no wrong," says a well-placed source. A video of the meeting is also doing rounds but the audio has been muted.

Six emails, a lot of chatter but the only thing which changed was the start time of the Pakistan-UAE contest. Pycroft officiated the fixture and is set to continue doing that for the remainder of the tournament. What next for PCB? They first need to respond to ICC with more information as their previous claims have clearly fallen flat.

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