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Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at Pakistan Cricket Board for forcing their Asia Cup match against UAE to be delayed by an hour.
Miffed at ICC match referee Andy Pycroft asking their captain Salman Ali Agha to not shake hands with Suryakumar Yadav during the toss time of their group match of Asia Cup 2025 against India, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last Wednesday reportedly threatened to withdraw from the tournament if the official wasn’t removed from the remainder of their matches. With ICC not ceding to their demand, PCB then delayed the departure of their team for a group match against UAE.
Better sense prevailed and after meetings and conversations with the ICC officials, the team finally left of the venue and the match eventually got underway after being delayed for an hour. Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has come down heavily on PCB’s antics and accused them of holding the game to ransom.
“The other thing that left a sour taste in the mouth is holding up the game and starting it one hour late. If the PCB had any issues to discuss with and about the match referee Andy Pycroft, then it had two full days after their loss to India and before the game against the UAE in which to do so,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
“By keeping everybody in suspense and not even turning up at the ground until almost the toss time, they held the game to ransom. There is simply no excuse for delaying the start of the game for an hour while haggling to get an apology from the match referee for something that was also not in any of the rule books,” he added.
Gavaskar said that PCB’s actions have set a wrong precedent and hoped that no other team will be allowed “this king of bullying again.”
The former India captain also took a dig at PCB’s claim of Pycroft apologising to them after which they agreed to play.
“Then, despite the ICC, who appoints the umpires and match referees, saying there was no apology given, the PCB insisted that they had secured one and so agreed to play. They pounced on the words ‘regrettable miscommunication’ to say that this was the apology,” Gavaskar wrote.
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital…Read More
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital… Read More
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The post‘They Held The Game To Ransom’: Sunil Gavaskar Tears Into PCB For Delaying Start Of Match | Cricket News appeared first on News18