Sanjay Manjrekar, Irfan Pathan And Now Harbhajan Singh: Growing List Of Controversies Around Commentators In IPL
Irfan Pathan, a former left-arm pacer who played a crucial role in India’s 2007 T20 World Cup victory, has been excluded from the IPL 2025 commentary panel. Despite being a consistent presence in both Hindi and English commentary panels for international matches and IPL fixtures, the broadcasters opted not to include him this season. Reports suggest that his controversial opinions and biased remarks about certain players contributed to this decision.
Pathan’s social media activity before IPL 2025 reportedly targeted specific players, and his remarks were considered unprofessional by the IPL broadcasters. His critical comments on Virat Kohli during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and his statements regarding Hardik Pandya’s return to domestic cricket fueled controversy. Several players reportedly voiced their dissatisfaction, accusing Pathan of pushing a personal agenda during broadcasts.
These complaints and controversies led to Pathan’s removal from the commentary team, marking a rare instance of a high-profile commentator being sidelined due to personal biases.
Irfan Pathan is not the first commentator to face a ban in IPL. In 2020, Sanjay Manjrekar was removed from BCCI’s commentary panel during India’s ODI series against South Africa. The decision followed his controversial “bits and pieces” remark on Ravindra Jadeja during the 2019 Cricket World Cup, which led to backlash from both fans and players.
Following Irfan Pathan’s ban, another veteran cricketer, Harbhajan Singh, is reportedly under scrutiny for his controversial remark on Jofra Archer. During the SRH vs RR match, Harbhajan made an insensitive comment, stating:
“London me kaali taxi ka meter tez bhagata hai, aur yaha pe Archer sahab ka meter bhi tez bhaaga hai.”
This comment was made after Jofra Archer conceded 76 runs in four overs which is the most expensive spell in IPL history. There are speculations that IPL broadcasters may take action against Harbhajan Singh for his remark, similar to what happened with Pathan.
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