Gujarat Titans outclassed Kolkata Knight Riders and won by 39 runs
There was a lot of chatter around the commentary in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. First it was the exclusion of former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan from the broadcasters’ commentary panel without an official mention.
Then Lucknow Super Giants’ Shardul Thakur took a dig at the commentators criticising the bowlers in the tournament for conceding too many runs.
“It’s easy to sit in a studio and comment on someone’s bowling, but they don’t see the real picture out there on the ground. I’m sure they should look at their own stats before criticising anyone,” the Mumbai all-rounder had said after Lucknow Super Giants beat an in-form Gujarat Giants.
Later, GT all-rounder Washington Sundar was clearly agitated and snapped at a reporter when he was asked about playing 14 international games in between just two IPL games across two seasons, which was mentioned by a commentator on air during the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“I said that? When did I say that? Did you hear me say that?” Washington said.
Ahead of GT’s clash against KKR at the Eden Gardens there were reports of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) writing a strongly-worded letter to the BCCI to keep out veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle and former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull out of the commentary panel for the game at their home ground.
Bhogle and Doull were both not present for the game which sparked more talk that the duo were axed based on the CAB’s letter.
However, Bhogle clarified in a post on ‘X’ that he was absent due to a health emergency within his family.
“There are some inappropriate conclusions being drawn about why I wasn’t at yesterday’s game in Kolkata. Quite simply, it wasn’t on the list of matches I was down to do! Asking me would have resolved the issue. Rosters are done before the tournament starts. I was rostered for two games in Kolkata. I was there for the first and an illness in the family prevented me from being at the 2nd,” Bhogle said in his post.
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There were further remarks from a GT player on the commentators at the same game. Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore took a dig at former England opener Nick Knight when he questioned Rashid Khan’s poor form this season.
“As a team, we don’t doubt his abilities, I don’t know what it’s like in the commentary box. We all believe in him and I still believe he’s the best T20 bowler in the world. The talk has been about playing good cricket, not about the results,” Sai Kishore said in the post-match presentation.
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