"No player from Baroda..."- Irfan Pathan breaks silence on his tiff with Hardik Pandya

Irfan Pathan revealed he proposed VVS Laxman to pick Hardik Pandya in SRH squad in 2012.

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has refuted rumours of his rivalry with all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Moreover, the cricketer-turned-commentator has revealed that he proposed VVS Laxman to pick the all-rounder in Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) squad in 2012.

Hardik Pandya, who is a crucial seam all-rounder for India in white-ball cricket, was part of the Indian team that won the ICC T20 World Cup last year and the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year. His growth in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been terrific as well as he is now among the top-ranked players and captain in the league.

He was picked by the Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2015 and won trophies with the team in four editions till 2020. From 2022 to 2023, Pandya played for the Gujarat Titans (GT) as a skipper, leading the team to the title win in the 2022 edition. Later, he returned to the MI squad and succeeded Rohit Sharma as the new captain of the side.

There’s no rivalry between me and Hardik Pandya- Irfan Pathan

Cricketer-turned-commentator Pathan, who recently appeared on The Lallantop show, denied having any rivalry with Hardik, saying that he and his brother Yusuf Pathan have always supported players from Baroda.

“There’s no rivalry between me and Hardik Pandya. There’s nothing as such. No player from Baroda who went to the top can say that Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan didn’t support them at any specific time,” he said.

“Even VVS Laxman said that I regret that I didn’t listen to Irfan in 2012. If I had listened, then Hardik would’ve played for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Laxman said that,” he added.

Notably, Pathan had questioned Hardik’s spot in the Indian Cricket Team ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Speaking about the same, the 40-year-old said that every player has to face criticism in cricket, and there is nothing wrong about it.

“There is nothing wrong if you criticise a player. If you are playing cricket, you have to face it. It happened with Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. They never made any feel that they were above the game. I am against the derogatory words used against Hardik,” Pathan clarified.

Meanwhile, Pathan was part of the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025 tournament last month, playing for India Champions. Led by Yuvraj Singh, India reached the semi-finals of the tournament, where they refused to play against Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Hardik is expected to be part of India’s squad for Asia Cup 2025. The tournament will be played in the UAE next month from September 9 to 28. Indian selectors are expected to reveal the squad for the tournament in the coming week.

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