Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi addressed the media ahead of the Men in Green’s match against the UAE on Wednesday in the Asia Cup 2025. This came after lots of drama, as Pakistan had threatened to boycott the game if match referee Andy Pycroft was not removed from the tournament.

PCB had accused Pycroft of instructing Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha not to shake hands with India captain Suryakumar Yadav during their match on September 14. He was further blamed for not intervening when Indian players refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team.

PCB wrote to ICC, demanding the removal of Andy Pycroft, or they would boycott the match against the UAE. ICC rejected PCB’s demands both times, and Pycroft remained the match referee for the match after PCB claimed he apologized to Salman Agha and the Pakistan team manager. PCB also took back the boycott threat, and Pakistan played the game, defeating the UAE and qualifying for the Super 4s stage.

Naqvi was involved in talks with former PCB chiefs Ramiz Raja and Najam Sethi about what to do and whether to carry out the boycott of the match after the UAE vs. Pakistan match was postponed by an hour. This would have ultimately resulted in Pakistan's elimination from the tournament.

According to Naqvi, the boycott was a significant choice, and the situation was being closely watched. According to him, it was determined that the team would play the UAE in the competition after receiving support from Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other important government figures.

“As you all know, there has been a crisis going on since 14th September. We had objections about the role of the match referee. Just a short while back, the match referee had a conversation with the team coach, captain, and manager. He said that this incident (no handshakes) should not have happened. We had also requested the ICC earlier to set up an inquiry into the code violation during the match,” Naqvi told reporters on Wednesday.

“We believe that politics and sports can’t go together. This is sports, and let it remain a sport. Cricket should be separate from all this. I requested Sethi Saab and Rameez Raja Saab. If we had to go for a boycott, which was a very big decision, the prime minister, government officials, and lots of other people were also involved, and we got their full support. We were monitoring the issue,” he added.

During the same press conference, Sethi stated that the PCB has always and will continue to take the stance that politics and sport should not be mixed. Additionally, he asserted that Suryakumar Yadav's remarks have not been well-received by the world.

“PCB’s objective has always been that there should be no politics in sport. I was also a chairman, and that was the objective then; that’s the objective now. They played politics; we didn’t. We demanded an apology, and they have given the apology. Cricket is the winner. The world will support our stand, and you are all seeing the world’s reaction to India’s stand,” Sethi said.

India and Pakistan will clash in the Super 4s stage on Sunday, September 21.