The PCB has taken exception to India’s players donning military caps during the third ODI against Australia in Ranchi. Though India had claimed to have worn the caps to pay respect to the victims of the Pulwama terror attack, the PCB has considered it a violation of rules and has “strongly taken up” the issue with the ICC.

The February 14 attack, which killed 40 personnel of the Indian Central Reserve Police Force, has led to political tensions between India and Pakistan. The BCCI had at the time urged the ICC to “sever ties with countries from which terrorism emanates.”

The issue has worsened the already-strained relationship between the BCCI and the PCB. The Pakistan foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, was affronted by India’s decision to wear the camouflage caps. He called on the ICC to hold the BCCI to account, before the PCB formalised it with a letter to the world governing body.

“We have strongly taken up the matter with the ICC,” Ehsan Mani, the PCB chairman, told reporters in Karachi. “There is absolutely no misunderstanding in the ICC about our position. We believe that cricket and sports should not be used for politics, and we have said this very clearly. Their [India] credibility in the cricketing world has gone down very badly.”

“We have been in touch with ICC from day one, sent one letter already, and another is being followed up in next 12 hours. There should not be any ambiguity as we are taking this very strongly,” Mani said. “We don’t do politics, neither do we use cricket for politics.

“You have two examples from the past already, where both Imran Tahir and Moeen Ali were sanctioned for something similar. The ICC had taken strong action against them and we have sought similar action against India. The permission they [India] took was for a different purpose, but they acted differently.”

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