Pakistan boycott press conference ahead of India clash

Pakistan have cancelled their scheduled press conference ahead of their Super Four clash against India in the Asia Cup. There is no clarity yet on what prompted Pakistan's latest move, especially since they did address the media after the UAE game, with Haris Rauf representing the team.

C,ricbuzz had earlier reported that the issue between the Pakistan Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council was far from settled even as Pakistan went ahead and played the game against UAE.

Pakistan had taken a similar step before their game against the UAE after Andy Pycroft was cleared by the ICC of any wrongdoings in the handshake saga between India and Pakistan players and appointed as the match referee for the game between Pakistan and UAE. Pakistan's refusal to attend the press conference then created uncertainty until the match eventually went ahead after a one-hour delay, following discussions between team officials and Pycroft. The two camps, however, offered differing accounts of the nature of that conversation.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has not yet announced the match officials for the India-Pakistan fixture on Sunday, but Pycroft is understood to be the frontrunner for the match referee's role, which may have influenced Pakistan's decision to withdraw from the press conference.

On the match eve, Pakistan are scheduled to train at the ICC Academy from 6 pm local time, and that session remains on as planned, Cricbuzz understands.

India, meanwhile, weren't originally scheduled to practice but belatedly arranged an optional training session at the same venue, also at 6 pm local. The team had played Oman in Abu Dhabi on Friday and were expected to rest on Saturday before opting for a light hit-out ahead of the Super Four stage.