Yusuf defends himself, praises BCCI

Gurgaon:

Distancing himself from a recent controversy regarding his comments on omission of brother Irfan from Champions Trophy squad, India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan on Sunday showered praise on the BCCI for doing a "good job" for their cricketers.

"I have no doubt that the BCCI is a responsible body and doing a good job for cricketers. I am quite happy with the Board's role. We play for India and have no right to comment against the country's Board," Yousuf said.

Yusuf had reportedly blamed selectors for dropping the left-arm pacer from India's 30-member probables list for next month's Champions Trophy tournament in South Africa on not just cricketing grounds.

But the Baroda cricketer retracted his claim. "I do not know why my brother is not among the Champions Trophy probables. Our (cricketers') duty is to play only and not to speak on the team combination," Yousuf said on sideline of a promotional programme here.

Asked if he submitted any written explanation to the BCCI for his alleged comments, the 26-year-old said, "There is no question of doing that because I said nothing like that about the selectors.

"And I think, the BCCI also knows that we are responsible cricketers playing for our country," he added.