Irfan Pathan breaks silence on why got sacked from commentary; talks about Rohit, Kohli and Pandya

Irfan Pathan breaks silence on why got sacked from commentary. (Photo: X)

Irfan Pathan, a celebrated all-rounder and T20 World Cup winner, found himself in the spotlight last year for reasons beyond cricket. According to a report by The Times of India, the former India star was dropped from the commentary panel after broadcasters allegedly felt he was letting personal grudges seep into his on-air analysis and social media posts.

Having established himself as a regular voice in the commentary box over the years, Pathan’s absence from the opening fixture of IPL 2025 came as a surprise to many. Still, he continued to feature in high-profile series, including the prestigious Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

Now, Pathan has finally addressed the matter, breaking his silence on being replaced in the commentary panel.

"See, I believe that as a broadcaster, when the commentary is going on and the fans are watching the match, you have to go ahead of the visuals and speak about what's happening. The broadcaster and commentator's work is - what is happening and why it is happening. What can happen and how? If a player is doing exceptionally well, you praise him, and if they are not performing well, then criticize him. The commentators' responsibility is towards the fans, not players,” he said on Lallantop.

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He was then directly asked to share his views on three big players of India (Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Hardik Pandya).

"If you look at my social media, there was Virat Kohli's slump in 2019-20. At that time, it was said that it was the time of COVID, and he wasn't getting inspiration. I thought that when a player of big stature undergoes their first slump, then they should be backed. If you look at my social media, I backed him a lot. One, he deserved it, and won a lot of matches. If the slump continues for five years, then it's not right,” Pathan said.

“Rohit Sharma is an amazing player in white-ball cricket, but his average in Test cricket that year was 6, so we said that if he was not the captain, he would not have had a place in the team, and this is true."

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“People say that we supported Rohit Sharma more than necessary. Of course, when someone comes to interview on your broadcasting channel, you will not misbehave with them, right? You have invited him, so you will behave politely. When Rohit came to interview, we were, of course, polite, and we had to show that, because he was our guest. So that was connected and said we were supporting him, but it was we who said...we had said that he should keep fighting, but that said, he should not have had a place in the playing XI. If he was not the captain of the team, he would have been dropped.”

The anchor then playfully mentioned his “Hardik ichha” (strong desire) to bring up the matter. Although no name was taken, it was evident that the reference was to Hardik Pandya.

Pathan replied: "You expressed 'Hardik iccha' to know about. There are 14 matches in IPL. If I have criticised 7 times, then I have gone soft 7 times. You (Hardik) have made a mistake 14 times, I have shown you seven times. This is our job."

Back in IPL 2024, Pandya made headlines when he moved from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians and took over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma. When questioned about whether there was any rivalry between him and the star all-rounder, Irfan Pathan clarified that he had always stood by Pandya during that challenging phase.

"There is no rivalry. All the players of Baroda who have come up, be it Deepak Hooda, Swapnil Singh, Hardik-Krunal. None of them can say that Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan did not support us. Be it his early days or some other time. No one could have done this even two years ago," Pathan said.

"We helped them in every way, from sponsorship to shoes. We talked to people to give opportunities to these players. No one can question us. Some time ago VVS Laxman said this on Star Sports, 'I admit that I did not listen to Irfan. If I had listened to him in 2012, Hardik would have played for Sunrisers Hyderabad.'

"The people who run it run any story. Today every player has PR. Everyone has their own story. But I say that if any player has played even a single match for India, I respect and support him completely. As a broadcaster, the responsibility is not towards the players but towards the viewers. I used a soft hand seven times because it is important to control your emotions in broadcasting. You know he is also a human being. I also opposed the derogatory words used for Hardik. I said if you want to criticize, criticize the players. As long as cricketers play, they will be criticized. Sachin was criticized, Gavaskar was criticized. These words are not right. You should not use such words. I said this live. But an atmosphere was created over other small things."