Pakistani authorities have accused the India cricket team of risking politicizing the sport by wearing camouflage, military-style hats in memory of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) members who died in a recent terrorist attack.
The Indian cricketers wore the headgear in their T20 match with Australia in solidarity with the CRPF members who were killed in the February 14 attack in the Pulwama district of India, for which the Pakistani Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility.
Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has called for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to censure the Indian team for its actions which he sees as being politically inflammatory.
The Indian team donated their match fees to the families of the 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives in the attack.
"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 said.
"It's just not cricket," added Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, urging the team to make an official complaint to the sport's governing body. "And if the Indian team will not be stopped, the Pakistan cricket team should wear black bands to remind the world about Indian atrocities in Kashmir."
Despite the complaint, an ICC spokesperson confirmed that India sought the go-ahead to wear the caps as a mark of respect to the dead.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had requested permission from ICC CEO Dave Richardson on Thursday to led the players participate in a charity fund-raising effort and wear army caps with the BCCI crest in memory of the fallen soldiers," they said to the Times of India.
The ICC compared Indian's actions to those who wear tokens to help promote cancer awareness, or even the Poppies worn by English sportspeople in November to mark Armistice Day.
Indian teams have previously taken part in similar commemorations in cricket, notably at the turn of the year when both the Indian and English cricket captains, Virat Kohli and Joe Root, wore a 'poppy' made of khadi - a handwoven cloth popular in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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'It's just not cricket': Pakistan demands ICC action against India for military-style headgear
'It's just not cricket': Pakistan demands ICC action against India for military-style headgear
