Pakistan cancel pre-match presser after ICC refuses to remove referee Andy Pycroft over 'no handshake' row

Pakistan will take on the hosts UAE in a Group A match on Wednesday.

As per a report by NDTV, Pakistan skipped the presser to avoid questions on their threat to pull out of the tournament, which is headed by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi.

In the first response to no handshake by Team India players after a Group A match on Sunday, Pakistan team manager Naveed Akram Cheema had filed an official complaint with Pycroft against the men-in-blue.

Later, the PCB demanded Pycroft's removal from the panel of referees alleging it was the Match Referee who asked the two captains- Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha and India's Suryakumar Yadav- not to shake hands at the toss.

Following this, the PCB threatened to pull out of the Asia Cup if the ICC did not remove Pycroft from the panel of referees.

The Indian cricket board BCCI faced severe criticism from several quarters in the country for participating in the match even though India has decided to not hold any bilateral series as a protest against the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir.

The calls from the netizens to boycott the match by not watching it flooded the internet while Suryakumar's men decided to snub the Pakistani players in the match, which was comprehensively won by India.

Suryakumar refused to shake hands with Salman at the toss followed by no handshake post match and in more humiliation for Islamabad, the Indian players shut the door of the dressing room not allowing the opponent to approach them.

When asked by reporters about the act, Suryakumar said, "Our government and BCCI, we were aligned. Together, we came here, we took a call and I feel we came here just to play the game. And we gave them a proper reply. I feel a few things in life are ahead of sportsman's spirit also."

Several former Pakistani cricketers including legend Shoaib Akhtar criticised Team India's actions.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Suryakumar dedicated the win to the Armed Forces and also expressed solidarity with the families of the Pahalgam terror attack victims.

"We stand by the victims of the families of the Pahalgam terror attack. We express our solidarity. We want to dedicate today's win to all our Armed Forces who showed a lot of bravery," the skipper said.

On field, India decimated Pakistan by seven wickets. After being put to bowl first, India restricted Pakistan to mere 127-9 in 20 overs.

Kuldeep Yadav, who didn't play a single Test in England, picked three wickets for 18 runs.

India chased down the total in only 15.5 overs when Suryakumar sweeped for a big shot to clinch the victory. The captain was the top scorer for India with his 47 off 37 balls.