Pakistan threatens to pull out of Asia Cup if match referee not removed

A day after India refused to shake hands with Pakistan after recording a comprehensive win in the Asia Cup match, the issue snowballed into a major controversy.

- FIROZ MIRZA @ Chennai

In a letter to the International Cricket Council, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) threatened to withdraw from the Asia Cup if their demand of immediate removal of match referee Andy Pycroft is not met. The letter was written soon after the match. Interestingly, former BCCI secretary Jay Shah is the ICC chair. "The ICC has been told specifically that if the match referee Pycroft will not be changed, Pakistan will not play any more Asia Cup match," a PCB source told this daily. Interestingly, Pycroft was given the similar responsibility b