Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi, who was present at the emergency PCB meeting, recently revealed the events that unfolded during the meeting.
In an interview with Samaa TV, a Pakistani news broadcasting channel, he said that he went in to help them avoid a crisis.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister and Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, Mohsin Naqvi, threatened to withdraw Pakistan from the Asia Cup, which Sethi said was an “existential crisis” for PCB.
Another former PCB chairman, Ramiz Raja, was also present at the meeting.
“If what he was attempting had succeeded, Pakistan would have suffered irreparable damage. We could have been sanctioned by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), penalized by the International Cricket Council (ICC), foreign players might have refused to play in the PSL, and we stood to lose $15 million in ACC broadcasting rights,” he added.
He added that he went into the meeting with the intention that “PCB should survive” and “PCB cricketers should survive.”
The meeting was held shortly before Pakistan was to face UAE in a Group A clash on September 17. Pakistan arrived late at Dubai International Stadium that day, delaying the match against UAE by an hour and leaving the hotel just over an hour before the toss. The team had canceled its pre-match press conference on Tuesday but completed a practice session as scheduled.
Tensions simmered after India faced Pakistan in the Asia Cup Group A clash, after India’s players left the field without shaking hands — a decision that drew strong criticism from the PCB. In protest, Pakistan also withdrew from the post-match presentation ceremony.
According to PCB’s statement, Andy Pycroft apologized to the manager and captain of the Pakistan team, describing the situation as a miscommunication. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also indicated its willingness to investigate any potential violations of the Code of Conduct during the match.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has reportedly written a letter and sent emails to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), citing multiple breaches during the match against the UAE on September 17.
The violations included recording video inside the stadium on match day and posting footage on PCB’s official social media channels. These actions have drawn the ire of the ICC, and the cricket body is likely to take action against the Pakistan board. The ICC was also not made aware of how PCB planned to use the filmed footage.
