Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan is not part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 commentary panel, according to reports from Indian media.
Irfan, who became a prominent voice in IPL commentary after his retirement, has been a regular on the panel for several years. However, during the opening match of IPL 2025 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), he was noticeably absent.
According to a report by the Times of India, Irfan Pathan was excluded from the panel because broadcasters were unhappy with former Indian all-rounders bringing personal grievances into commentary and social media.
The report further states that Irfan had past disagreements with certain players, and he frequently referenced them—without directly naming them—during his commentary and social media interactions. Allegedly, his sarcastic remarks about certain cricketers led to his removal from the commentary team.
Irfan Pathan is not the first cricketer to face such an exclusion. In 2020, former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar was dropped from the commentary panel after making controversial remarks about Ravindra Jadeja during the ODI World Cup. Similarly, in 2016, renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle was also left out of the IPL commentary team.
Reacting to his exclusion, Harsha Bhogle had previously shared on social media, “I still don’t know why I am not commentating in the IPL. I can accept that people may not like me, but I really hope the reason isn’t that cricketers have an issue with my opinions.”
Irfan Pathan has yet to officially respond to the reports, but his absence has certainly sparked discussions among fans and cricket enthusiasts.
