Asia Cup: Pakistan arrive for UAE game after day long drama; ICC rejects demand for Pycroft removal
Dubai (PTI): Pakistan was forced to climb down from its pullout threat and show up for a crucial Asia Cup game against the UAE here on Wednesday but not before causing a dramatic delay after the ICC's persistent rejection of its demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft.
The team had earlier refused to leave its hotel for the must-win group match as Pycroft will officiate the game that will now start at 9pm IST instead of the original 8pm start.
Teams are required to report at the stadium two hours before the start of the game which Pakistan failed to do in protest.
That Pycroft would remain match referee was communicated to PCB chairman and Asian Cricket Council head Mohsin Naqvi by ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta in a conference call.
The ICC maintained that the Zimbabwean will remain in charge as he has followed the rules and regulations to the 'T'.
Pakistan had held Pycroft responsible for the embarrassment it faced after its captain Salman Ali Agha and India skipper Suryakumar did not exchange a handshake and their team sheets during the toss on Sunday.
The PCB said that Pycroft had told Salman to avoid a handshake with Suryakumar and told the two captains to not exchange team sheets.
The Indian players did not shake hands with the rivals even after the match as a mark of solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
On Wednesday, once the Pakistan team didn't leave from the Grosvenor Hotel in Dubai, it was evident that the deadlock continued after the rejection of a second PCB complaint by the ICC.
Pycroft himself was present at the Dubai International Stadium and left the venue surrounded by bodyguards after he was called to the ICC Headquarters just a kilometer away from the ground.
The ICC gave a six-point rebuttal in which maintained that the PCB's complaints were baseless.
The ICC in its written communication stated: "The ICC's investigation was conducted on the basis of the information provided in the report lodged by the PCB. We took the report at Face value and note that no supporting documentation or evidence was provided with it.
"The PCB had every opportunity to submit statement from its team members alongside the initial report but chose not to do so."
The second point stated that there was "no case to answer" on the part of match referee.
"The actions that match referee took was, following clear directions to him from ACC (Asian Cricket Council) Venue Manager, were consistent with how a match referee will deal with such an issue, communicated as it was with no time for him to do anything else (minutes before the toss)."
The ICC in its third pointer was clear that Pycroft was committed to "preserving the sanctity of the toss and avoiding any potential embarrassment that might have arisen. "
"The Match Referee was not at fault in any of this."
"It is not the role of the Match Referee to regulate ay team or tournament specific protocols which have been agreed outside of the area of play, that is a matter for the tournament organizers and relevant team managers," the ICC added.
The conclusion was a terse one where the ICC brass wondered if "...the PCB's real concern or complain relates to the actual decision that handshakes didn't take place."
"The PCB should therefore direct those complaint to the tournament organiser and those who took the actual decision (which was not the Match Referee). The ICC doesn't have a role in that."
In a nutshell, ICC actually put the ball back in "ACC chairman" Mohsin Naqvi and Tournament Director Andy Russell's court.
The PCB can lose up to USD 16 million if they don't play the tournament. Naqvi took advice from two former PCB chairmen -- Ramiz Raja and Najam Sethi -- before deciding that the team would continue.
It is not known what transpired in that meeting but soon after Naqvi took to 'X' and announced.
"We have asked the Pakistan team to depart for the Dubai Cricket Stadium. Further details to follow." The team left the venue soon after that.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Cong says LoPs not invited to Putin banquet, takes swipe at Tharoor for accepting invite
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday said Leaders of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have not been invited to the banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and took a swipe at its own MP Shashi Tharoor for accepting the invite.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "There has been speculation whether the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha have been invited for tonight's official dinner in honour of President Putin. The two LoPs have not been invited."
Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera accused the government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles.
"There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Mr (Rahul) Gandhi. This comes as a surprise but I don't think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols. What else to say, ask the government," he told PTI Videos on the sidelines of an event.
Asked about party MP Tharoor getting invited to the banquet and accepting the invitation, Khera said, "Ask Mr. Tharoor. All of us who are in the party, if our leaders don't get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience and listen to our conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable and those who accept such an invite is also questionable," Khera said.
"We would have listened to our voice of conscience," he added.
Earlier, Tharoor said there was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited but that practice seems to have stopped from some years.
"It has been resumed ...I have been invited, yes. I will definitely go," the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs said.
On the LoPs reportedly not getting an invite, Tharoor said, "I don't know on what basis invitations were sent. I think the custom that usually used to be followed was for a wide representation. Certainly, I remember in the olden days, they used to invite not only the LoPs, (but) various other cross section of representatives of different parties. It conveys a good impression."
"I dont know the basis (of invitation), this is all done by the government, by the protocol by the Rashtrapati Bhawan, what do I know. All I can say I have honoured to have been invited. Of course I will go," Tharoor told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
Gandhi on Thursday had alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the Leader of the Opposition due to its "insecurity".
His remarks had come hours ahead of Putin's two-day visit to India.
Gandhi had said it is a tradition that visiting foreign dignitaries meet the LoP but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs were not following this norm.
"Normally the tradition is that those who come from abroad have a meeting with the LoP. This used to happen during (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee ji's time, Manmohan Singh ji's time, it has been a tradition but what happens these days is that when foreign dignitaries come and when I go abroad, the government suggests to them to not meet the LoP," Gandhi had told reporters in Parliament House complex.
_vb_09.jpeg)
