He also predicted former SRH all-rounder to shine for his new franchise.
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan predicted the dark horse of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 in his recent interview with commentator Jatin Sapru. He picked his former IPL franchise PBKS (Punjab Kings) for this edition. Interestingly, Irfan made his IPL debut for the Punjab franchise (formerly Kings XI Punjab) in 2008 and represented them till 2010.
Irfan chose Punjab due to their newly assigned captain Shreyas Iyer, who won the title last season as the skipper of Kolkata Knight Riders. Punjab Kings acquired Shreyas by spending a whopping INR 26.75 crore in the mega-auction. Irfan also emphasised that Shreyas has a good relationship with coach Ricky Ponting, which could benefit the team’s performance. They have previously spent a long time in the Delhi Capitals camp.
“Punjab is the dark horse. Because Shreyas Iyer is a good captain and his combination with Ponting is well too”, he said in the interview.
Furthermore, Irfan considered the presence of great bowlers in their squad like Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh. They can provide a total of eight good overs combined as they have garnered the experience of bowling in tough situations by representing the national team.
“They have good bowlers in their team including Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal) and Arshdeep who brings in experience. A team needs 12-15 good overs in a game, they have eight already from these two and they have so many options in their batting too”, stated Irfan.
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While guessing the player who could have a massive season in this IPL, the former all-rounder picked two names.
Firstly, Irfan went with youngster Suryansh Shedge. The Mumbai all-rounder had a brilliant outing in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He scored 131 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 251.92, which was the highest in the tournament. Shedge also picked up eight wickets in SMAT 2024-25.
The 40-year-old stated that he is “very excited” to watch him play alongside his Mumbai skipper Shreyas Iyer. He has shown his fierce batting abilities in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and could do well in his maiden IPL too.
“I’m actually very excited for him. He will play with Shreyas as the captain, who will support him as he also plays for Mumbai. I have seen him play small cameos in Mushtaq Ali Trophy, his balance and range to hit the balls are extremely good, I’ve not seen many of his bowling videos, but I think he is an all-rounder who has proper hitting abilities”, explained the former player.
Alongside Shedge, Irfan also felt that former Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) player Abdul Samad could make it big this season. After debuting for SRH in IPL 2020, he will now feature for the Lucknow Super Giants, who have acquired him for INR 4.20 crore from the mega-auction.
“Samad to have a good season because he has gone to a team where they can use him in a different position as well. That can help him to have his break-through season. It’s about time, he has been there for four-five years now and he has shown potential and power. If given the proper opportunity he can have a solid season”, he explained.
PBKS will start their IPL 2025 season against Gujarat Titans on March 25.
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