Asia Cup 2025: Ramiz Raja accuses ICC referee Andy Pycroft of being India’s favourite

The 2025 Asia Cup has garnered enough attention to become the most-watched ongoing cricket series. The row around the Pakistan Team, which urged the governing body (ICC) to immediately release its match referee, Andy Pycroft, over the ‘handshake saga’ during the India Group game, seems to have grown, with former Pakistan captain and PCB chairman, Ramiz Raja, openly accusing Pycroft of being India’s favourite.

The mounting tensions at the continental tournament saw the PCB threatening to boycott the UAE game and the Asia Cup (as a whole); even though they decided against doing so following closed-door discussions with all parties concerned, Pakistan beating the UAE helped them set a date with their arch-rival on Sunday (Sep 21) in Dubai.

Also read | Asia Cup 2025: Pak pacer Rauf says PCB's drama on Pycroft ‘not in my control’

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Ahead of their last group game against the venue hosts on Wednesday (Sep 17), the PCB asked the Pakistani side to stay back at their team hotel, demanding Pycroft’s removal following their fallout from their high-octane game against India. The PCB also cancelled their pre-game presser, urging the organisers to postpone the game unless their demands are met.

However, nothing worked, as the ICC refused their demands, with Pakistan agreeing to face the UAE while Pycroft retained his place as the match referee.

Meanwhile, speaking at a joint presser with the PCB chairman and ACC chief, Mohsin Naqvi, Raja didn’t mince his words while accusing Pycroft of being Team India’s favourite, saying, “What’s interesting is… Andy Pycroft is the favourite [for the Indians]. Whenever I host tosses, he’s always a permanent fixture over there. This is something blatant for me because, though I thought he had refereed several matches, the stats seemingly show something one-sided.

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“It should not be like this. This is a neutral platform, which is why there are referees and match officials. However, I felt that he was fixed there. But I hope that better sense prevails,” he added.

The breach, the apology and everything else in between

According to the PCB, Pycroft had directly indicated to the two captains (Suryakumar Yadav from India and Salman Agha from Pakistan) that they should not shake hands at any time before, during, or after the game, urging the board to step in and seek a formal investigation into this.

Taking to its social media handle X, the PCB said, “ICC’s controversial match referee Andy Pycroft has apologised to the manager and captain of the Pakistani cricket team… The ICC has expressed its readiness to investigate the violation of the Code of Conduct.”

The ICC, however, denied any such claims, adding that no formal investigation had been initiated and that Pycroft was not found guilty of any breach. The apology, which they stressed, was due to the venue manager’s error.

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