NEW DELHI: As anticipated, the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) demand to replace match referee Andy Pycroft at the ongoing Asia Cup has been officially rejected by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Cricbuzz reported.

The possible rejection had been conveyed to the PCB last night. This is ICC's formal response to PCB's demand.

The PCB was upset with Andy Pycroft for instructing Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha to skip the customary handshake with his Indian counterpart at the toss.

However, the ICC clarified that Pycroft was merely following directions from ACC officials present at the venue, who had conveyed that no handshake would take place.

In its letter, the ICC dismissed Pakistan's belief that the match referee was acting on behalf of the Indian team, putting the controversy to rest.

The 69-year-old Zimbabwean is due to officiate Pakistan's final group stage game against the UAE on Wednesday.

Pycroft is one of the senior-most match referees in ICC Elite Panel with 695 international games to his credit (men and women across three formats).

It is reliably learnt that the situation arose due to PCB's Director of Cricket Operations Usman Walha, who didn't apprise his own skipper about the rules and regulations that are to be followed during the tournament.

It is learnt that an irate PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the current chairman of the Asian Cricket Council, ordered the sacking of Walha on Monday for the embarrassment caused to the national cricket team and its captain.

According to well-placed sources, it was Walha's duty to inform Salman about the "No Handshake" policy but he didn't do so and the Pakistan skipper was apparently blind-sided.

The PCB had wanted Pycroft to be removed from the entire tournament but now it would be interesting to see if they continue playing after the ICC, headed by India's Jay Shah, summarily rejected their demand.

It is understood that PCB is trying to work out a respectable solution by which Pycroft doesn't officiate in their matches.

One proposal given by the PCB is to have Richie Richardson stand in its match against the UAE on Wednesday but whether that would happen or not is the big question.

(With PTI Inputs)