India took permission from ICC to wear army camouflage caps: BCCI on Pakistan's protest

New Delhi, March 10: As Pakistan complained over Indian cricket team's use of Army camouflage military caps during the third ODI against Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has claimed that it had taken permission from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

As per a TOI report, "The BCCI had requested permission from ICC CEO Dave Richardson on Thursday to let the players participate in a charity fund-raising effort and wear army caps with the BCCI crest in memory of the fallen soldiers."

The BCCI also cited similar gestures by cricketers during Pink Test in Sydney, which is held to create awareness towards breast cancer, and the Poppies in England.

Pakistan has demanded that the ICC take note of Team India wearing camouflage caps and accused Virat Kohli team's of politicising the game. As a mark of respect to the CRPF jawans who lost their lives in the Pulawama terrorist attack, Indian cricketers sported the Army cap and also donated their match fee for the welfare of the families of the martyrs.

Taking an exception to the gesture, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the ICC must do something about it.

"The world saw that the Indian cricket team wore military caps instead of their own, did ICC not see this? We think that it is the ICC's responsibility to take notice of this without the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) bringing it up," Qureshi was quoted as saying by Pakistan media. India had lost the match by 32 runs but still lead the five-match series 2-1.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry echoed Qureshi's sentiment. "It's just not Cricket," Chaudhry tweeted in the evening, attaching a picture which showed Indian cricketers wearing the cap.

"And if the Indian team will not be stopped, Pak cricket team should wear black bands to remind The World about Indian atrocities in Kashmir," Chaudhry wrote.

The minister urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to lodge a formal protest against India with the sport's world governing body. PCB chairman Ehsan Mani later said that the governing body is in touch with the International Cricket Council (ICC) over the issue of the Indian team wearing military caps during the 3rd ODI against Australia.

"We are talking to the ICC about it and I will not say anything more about it," Mani said on Saturday at the national stadium.

However, Pakistan chief selector and former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq refused to be dragged into the debate.

"Look, I am a cricketer and my job is cricket. All this is politics and I don't want to be drawn into this," the veteran of 120 Tests said.
Inzamam, though, did say that cricket and politics must be kept apart. Asked whether the tense relations between Pakistan and India would add to pressure on players when the two teams meet in the World Cup on June 16, Inzamam said, "I don't think it is anything different this time."

At least 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives in the suicide attack on February 14, the responsibility of which was taken by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

(With inputs from PTI)