India, Sept. 17 -- The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday issued a six-point rebuttal, where the governing body maintained that the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) allegations against match referee Andy Pycroft were baseless. The PCB had blamed Pycroft for the handshake fiasco during the India-Pakistan face-off at the Dubai International Stadium last Sunday.

ICC's response came after PCB wrote twice to the apex body demanding Pycroft's removal from the match referee panel at the ongoing Asia Cup. They said that Pycroft had told Pakistan captain Salman Agha to avoid a handshake with India captain Suryakumar Yadav and told the two captains not to exchange team sheets. Pakistan even threatened a pullout in their first letter to...