NEW DELHI, May 10: Indian vice-captain Virender Sehwag was on Wednesday pulled up by cricket chiefs for praising ex-captain Saurav Ganguly and raising concerns about player burnout.

Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah, however, denied media reports that he had warned Sehwag to shut up or be ready to be thrown out of the team.

“It's not as sensational as it's being made out to be,” Shah said on Wednesday.

“Sehwag called me yesterday to seek permission to take his wife on the West Indies tour and I agreed. I also told him not to speak to the media on selection and policy matters.

“It was not a warning, just our advice to him. There is no question of taking action against Sehwag. The matter is closed.”

Sehwag had in recent media interviews praised Ganguly as the best captain he played under and said he sometimes missed his presence and hoped the left-hander would make a comeback on the national team.

Ganguly was sacked from both the Test and one-day squads earlier this year following a public spat with coach Greg Chappell on the Zimbabwe tour last September.

Sehwag also spoke out against the hectic international schedule, an issue being raised worldwide, saying players needed to take time off to rest and work on their game.

The gag order on Sehwag drew criticism from former cricketers.

“It is a democratic country, you cannot throttle players,” said former Test opener Chetan Chauhan.

“He has just given his personal opinion, he should have the right to do so.”

Spin great Erapalli Prasanna said players had a right to speak.

“The board has been talking of transparency, then why all this fuss,” asked Prasanna.

“There is nothing wrong in what Sehwag has said. He only showed the courage to talk.”

But ex-captain Gundappa Viswanath, also a former selector, said contentious issues should not be raised through the media.—AFP