Mumbai, Sep 29: From objecting to the match referee Andy Pycroft over the no handshake controversy, threatening to withdraw from the tournament, and not handing the trophy to the winners, Pakistan faces a possible sanction at the international level for their shenanigans in the just-concluded Men's T20 Asia Cup, according to a news report.

Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources told Telecom Asia Sport that the issue is likely to figure prominently during the upcoming ICC Board meeting next week.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will raise the issue in the ICC Board meeting next week after a series of controversies in which Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took a confrontational stance, from objecting to the match referee to taking the trophy without handing it to the winners,” sources told www.telecomasia.net.

On Sunday, the Indian players refused to take the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, who, besides being the president of the Asian Cricket Council and PCB, is also the interior minister of Pakistan and has a role to play in the military conflict with India following the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.

The ACC vice president, Aminul Islam of Bangladesh, and Mubashir Usmani of ICC Associates, representative (former CEO of the Emirates Board), also tried to convince Naqvi to budge from his stance, but he did not relent.

“Islam had offered to give the trophy to India, but Naqvi maintained he, as ACC President, would hand over the trophy,” said sources. “Naqvi was on the phone all the time taking advice from his high-ups who seemed to have told him not to budge from his stance.”

Naqvi ordered the ACC staff to take away the trophy before the presenter, Simon Doull of New Zealand, announced that, as per ACC orders, India would not be given the trophy on Sunday night.. “It shocked everyone that the trophy was taken away and not given. The Emirates Board CEO, Sultan Mohammad Zarwani, also tried to pacify things, but to no avail.

“Taking away the trophy without giving it to the winners is unprecedented and was seen as an offence, which could go against the PCB if BCCI maintains a strong stance in the ICC meeting,” sources told Telecom Asia Sport..

Before the drama at the presentation, PCB was on a collision course right after the September 14 India-Pakistan match.

PCB had objected to Pycroft conveying the BCCI’s message to Pakistan captain Salman Agha not to shake hands with his counterpart Suryakumar Yadav at the toss in the first match on September 14, the report said.

That led to Pakistan lodging a complaint against match referee Pycroft, accusing him of being a party to no handshake. They demanded Pycroft be removed from the tournament, but the International Cricket Council rejected that demand as they felt it would have set a wrong precedent.

“Pakistan’s objection over Pycroft did not go well with the ICC. Once the governing body rejected that demand, the PCB took the wrong route of withdrawing the team from the Asia Cup. They had almost decided to pull out two hours before the toss in their last Group A game against the hosts, the United Arab Emirates,” the report quoted PCB sources as saying.

The match was delayed for an hour, with Pakistan winning it to cruise into the Super Four. But the protest did not go well with the ICC.

“The protest over Suryakumar also irked the BCCI, and then, in a tit-for-tat, they complained over gestures of Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan. The ICC conducted hearings of the Indian captain and two Pakistanis, but no official announcement has been made," the sources said.

Farhan was charged with gun-fire celebration after reaching his fifty in the second game, while Rauf was captured on camera making gestures that alluded to Pakistan's false claims of downing Indian aircraft in the military conflict.

The report said that the ICC officials were angry at the confrontational behaviour of Naqvi, which led to several incidents during the Asia Cup. These incidents can go against Pakistan, added sources. The ICC is currently led by Chairman Jay Shah, whose father is India's Home Minister Amit Shah.

--IANS

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