Irfan Pathan finally breaks silence on how comments on 'Rohit Sharma' led to his snub from IPL 2025 commentary panel

Irfan Pathan was removed from the commentary panel of IPL 2025.

Former India pacer Irfan Pathan has broken silence on his removal from the commentary panel of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Pathan has been one of the popular commentators from India since the last few years. However, he was removed from the broadcasters ahead of the IPL 2025 edition.

A few reports suggested that Irfan Pathan was removed for bringing out personal grudges on air and targeting a few players with whom he had a fallout a few years ago. He was criticised for pointing out Rohit Sharma’s name.

Notably, Pathan had criticised Rohit’s performance on air during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 earlier this year. Sharma, who struggled to perform in the series, dropped himself from the fifth test in Sydney.

Irfan Pathan breaks silence on his snub from IPL 2025 commentary panel

Pathan recently appeared on the latest episode of Lallantop’s show “Guest in the Newsroom.” During the show, he was questioned whose criticisms led to his snub from IPL 2025 commentary.

“Look, I believe that the job of commentators is to tell the story beyond what is visible, what is happening, why it is happening, and why it is happening. If a player performs well, then praise him. If he cannot do so, then criticise him. The responsibility of the commentator is not for the player but for the fans,” Pathan replied.

The 40-year-old noted that Rohit is an amazing player in the white-ball format. However, he endured a poor form in test cricket, hence, he questioned Rohit’s spot in the test team.

“Rohit Sharma is an amazing white-ball player. However, his average in Test cricket that year was 6. So we said that if Rohit was not the captain, he would not have got a place in the playing eleven,” he said.

Pathan also revealed why commentators supported Rohit during an interview on the channel during the BGT 2024-25. However, they were the ones who criticised him earlier over his spot in the test team.

“People say that we have supported Rohit over the top. Obviously, if anyone comes on your broadcasting channel, you will not misbehave with them. Like you have invited me, I have come, so you will show politeness. And you should show politeness,” he said.

“When Rohit also came, he was our guest. It was presented as if we were supporting him. But we were the ones who said that he does not deserve a place. However, this did not work. The interview thing was more talked about,” Pathan further added.

Meanwhile, after IPL 2025, Pathan was roped in by Sony Sports Network as commentator for India’s tour of England 2025. He shared commentary duties with fellow commentators like Ajay Jadeja, Ashish Nehra, Vivek Razdan, Saba Karim, RP Singh, Arjun Pandit, and Gaurav Kapur on Sony Sports channels.

Last month, Pathan was part of World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025 tournament, where he played for Yuvraj Singh-led India Champions. They reached the semi-finals of the tournament, where they refused to play against Pakistan Champions.

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