Asia Cup 2025: Murali Kartik Terms Pakistan Team 'Childish, Churlish’ For Delaying Match Against UAE; Video

Murali Kartik blasted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Pakistan team for acting like children by postponing the UAE game by an hour on Wednesday, September 17. Salman Ali Agha and company postponed the start of the match by at least an hour in an attempt to pressure the ICC to fire Andy Pycroft as match referee after the handshake incident and threatened to boycott the match against the United Arab Emirates. Kartik harshly criticised Pakistan's antics, calling them churlish and childish.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Kartik attacked the PCB for not standing up and following their convictions. He asserted that Pakistan changed their mind after realising that boycotting the game would cost them millions. Kartik called Pakistan's actions "childish," saying that even kindergarteners behaved better.

He said, “The only word I can think of right now is absolutely childish and churlish. Just because when you see, oh, there could be a financial implication, which literally is 16 million US dollars over a handshake saga or over something like this. I can’t think of anything. I think people in kindergarten, even kids in kindergarten nowadays, do not behave like this,”

ICC rejects Pakistan's appeal to remove Andy Pycroft

Followign the handshake row PCB has reportedly warned ICC that if their demands of removing Andy Pycroft are not met, they could go to the extent of pulling out of the 2025 Asia Cup. Pakistan wrote two letters to ICC demanding that Pycroft be removed from his position as match referee and that his alleged misconduct be looked into.

According to Cricbuzz, in their response to PCB, ICC implied that Pycroft had been cleared in their own inquiry and was found not guilty of any wrongdoing. Additionally, even though it recognised that PCB had every right to file a complaint, a ruling in their favour would create a risky precedent.

Andy Pycroft apologises to PCB

Ahead of the match against the UAE, PCB released a statement stating that Pycroft had apologised over the no Handshake controversy. The statement said, “Controversial ICC match referee Andy Pycroft has apologized to the Pakistan cricket team’s manager and captain. Andy Pycroft had forbidden the captains of both teams from shaking hands during the India-Pakistan match. The Pakistan Cricket Board reacted strongly to Andy Pycroft’s action. Andy Pycroft apologizes for September 14 incident, calling it a miscommunication,”