The Pakistan men’s team have again canceled their pre-match press conference for Sunday’s clash against India in the Super-Four stage of the 2025 Asia Cup.
According to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC)’s schedule, a Pakistan player or staff member was scheduled to do a press conference at 6 pm local time (7:30 pm IST), followed by team training for three hours at the ICC Academy in Dubai. However, as per ESPNcricinfo, the training will go as per schedule with no presser.
Generally, practice sessions and press meets run simultaneously. While one member of the squad addresses the media, the others begin their training. The reason for Pakistan’s boycott remains unclear.
It’s the second time they won’t send a representative for the press conference,
which is crucial to keep the media and fans informed about a team’s mindset and preparation. They had earlier boycotted it before the group stage game against the UAE.
At that time, it seemed to be related to the controversy around match referee Andy Pycroft. Pakistan had accused the Zimbabwe official of not upholding the ICC Code of Conduct in the India-Pakistan group stage game earlier, when he informed Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Ali Agha that there wouldn’t be any handshakes after the coin was flipped, which was customary.
India refused to shake hands with Pakistani players after the match ended, too. In turn, Agha boycotted the post-match presentation ceremony.
The UAE game was preceded by a severe meltdown of issues, with the ICC arranging a meeting between Pycroft and the Pakistani side, where the referee expressed his regret about the events. The match began an hour late due to the Men in Green’s protest and delay in arriving at the stadium.
Just when things seemed to have settled, the PCB released footage of their meeting with Pycroft without audio, which has prompted anger at the ICC and some strongly worded emails to Pakistan. As of now, the India-Pakistan game on Sunday is set to go per schedule with Pycroft as the referee.
India will also not hold a press conference before this match on Saturday, though that’s because they played on Friday.
