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Hardik Pandya Vs Irfan Pathan: Instances When Former India Player Slammed MI Captain

Anurag Dasgupta

Every time Pathan criticised Hardik Pandya [Source: @sporttify/x.com] Every time Pathan criticised Hardik Pandya [Source: @sporttify/x.com]

The game of cricket has witnessed a new rivalry, but it is not between two active players, but between a former cricketer-turned commentator and a current Indian all-rounder. The Irfan Pathan vs Hardik Pandya cold-war took a huge turn as the former World Cup-winner, Pathan, revealed how his criticism of Pandya led to his outcast from IPL 2025 commentary.

Hardik responsible for Pathan's IPL commentary removal

Pathan is one of the most popular Indian commentators, and he never shies away from expressing his views on cricketers' form. However, he was removed from the IPL commentary, and it came in as a surprise for many. In a latest intrerview with Lallantop, Pathan indirectly revealed that it was his comments on Hardik, which led to his removal.

"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."

Irfan Pathan said he always supported Pandya in this phase when asked if there was a rivalry between him and the star allrounder. 

"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, as quoted by NDTV.

However, despite his denial of a rivalry or personal grudges, there have been instances in the past, where Pathan slammed Hardik, even for small things.

Every time Pathan took a dig at Hardik Pandya

All Irfan Pathan criticism of Pandya [Source: @Vipintiwari952/x.com] All Irfan Pathan criticism of Pandya [Source: @Vipintiwari952/x.com]

As seen in the image, some of the criticism dates well before the IPL 2024 season, before Pandya became the Mumbai Indians captain. Hardik was the captain of the Gujarat Titans from 2022-23, but ahead of the 2024 season, he was traded to MI and replaced Rohit Sharma as their new captain.

But the MI decision to remove Rohit was bashed, and every move that Pandya made was met with criticism. So much so, that the India all-rounder was also racially abused by a set of MI fans.