The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has suspended its Director of International Cricket, Usman Wahla, after he allegedly delayed forwarding a crucial communication to the International Cricket Council (ICC) regarding the ongoing handshake controversy at the Asia Cup 2025.
According to sources, Wahla’s failure to promptly dispatch the official letter sparked frustration within the PCB hierarchy, eventually leading to his suspension. The letter in question related to PCB’s formal complaint against match referee Andy Pycroft, whose directive to skip the traditional handshake during the high-voltage India–Pakistan clash has triggered heated debate across the cricketing world.
Fallout from India-Pakistan Clash
The controversy began in Dubai, where both captains — Suryakumar Yadav of India and Salman Ali Agha of Pakistan — did not exchange handshakes at the toss. The omission, reportedly under Pycroft’s orders, continued after the match, when Indian players walked off straight to the dressing room without greeting their Pakistani counterparts.
Pakistan’s players were left visibly dejected, and skipper Salman Ali Agha escalated the protest by refusing to attend the post-match presentation ceremony — a rare move in international cricket.
In its strongly worded letter to the ICC and the MCC, the PCB accused Pycroft of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct and ignoring the MCC’s spirit of cricket laws, calling the incident “a direct violation of the game’s traditions.”
Naqvi’s Strong Stand
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who also heads the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), took to social media platform X to reiterate the board’s position:
“The PCB has lodged a complaint with the ICC regarding the match referee’s violation of the ICC Code of Conduct and MCC laws. The referee acted against the spirit of cricket. We have demanded the immediate removal of Andy Pycroft from the Asia Cup.”
Rising Tensions
The issue deepened when PCB media manager Naveed Akram Cheema confronted Tournament Director Andrew Russell. Initially, Russell claimed the no-handshake directive came from the Indian board, but later clarified that it had been issued by the Indian government.
The Wahla suspension now signals the PCB’s intent to act firmly within its own ranks as well. By holding officials accountable internally, the board seems determined to show that it is taking the controversy seriously on all fronts.
With the Asia Cup 2025 already making headlines for both on-field action and off-field disputes, this episode has added yet another twist to a tournament that has so far been anything but ordinary.
