ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board has accused Bangladesh of not following the proper procedures before hiring Pakistani players for this year's Bangladesh Premier League.    

The PCB on Wednesday pulled its 27 players out of Bangladesh's premier domestic Twenty20 competition – beginning from Friday – which included star players Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Shoaib Malik and Imran Nazir.

The PCB claimed that the home board has to approach the visiting players' parent board and seek its approval.

''In BPL's case, Bangladesh Cricket Board, their representatives or the players' agents were in contact directly with the Pakistani players and PCB was kept out of this process,'' the PCB said in a statement.

'Even the auction of Pakistani players at BPL was done without PCB's prior permission or intimation.''

Khulna Royal Bengal had signed seven Pakistan players including Malik, Umar Akmal, Awaiz Zia, Umar Amin, Ahmad Shehzad, Haris Sohail and Bilawal Bhatti.    ''There are great embarrassments when boards are bypassed and players approached directly,'' the PCB said.

The ties between the two cricket boards turned soar this month after Bangladesh again postponed its scheduled tour to Pakistan due to security concerns.

The PCB also supported the nomination of former BCB president Mustafa Kamal as vice-president of the International Cricket Council last year in hopes that international cricket would resume in Pakistan with the Bangladesh tour.

Bangladesh sent a top level security delegation last March and promised to send its team in April 2012, but the tour was postponed when a High Court issued a stay order against the tour, citing the security of the players.

Pakistan has not hosted an international team since 2009 when gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team bus at Lahore, killing six police officials and a van driver.

''The BCB promised again to tour Pakistan on January 10th (2013) but backed off once again,'' the PCB said. ''The BCB needs to take a step forward in reciprocation.''