Former Indian all-rounder, Irfan Pathan, recently made some interesting predictions as far as the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League is concerned. He listed his picks in relation to the four teams he thought would end in the top four after the conclusion of the league phase.
Six games in and IPL 2025 has already seen a whole lot of dynamic action unfold. It is understandable that teams will take some time to understand their best XI, strengths, and limitations. Every team has played a minimum of one game up until Thursday, March 27.
With each side going through a significant churn in squad composition due to the mega auction which was conducted in November 2024, it remains to be seen how the competition pans out as the days go by. Hence, making a prediction solely on the standings of the previous season would be little misleading.
Pathan’s Prediction for Playoffs
Irfan projected Chennai Super Kings to finish at the top of the table. He attributed their mantra of “spin to win” as one which would help them succeed. He emphasised the importance of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Noor Ahmad in their setup. However, the former cricketer remarked that it remained to be seen how much MS Dhoni would end up batting (in terms of his batting order), how Ruturaj Gaikwad would fare in the powerplay, and how Devon Conway would end up performing after being sidelined due to injury for the entirety of the previous season.
The next side Irfan selected was Mumbai Indians. He pointed out a critical dimension to their success would be the confidecne with which skipper, Hardik Pandya, has arrived after putting in quite a few impressive performances in the T20 World Cup 2024 and the Champions Trophy 2025. The cricketer-turned-commentator identified a number of match-winners in their squad, citing Allah Ghazanfar and Mitchell Santner other than the more experienced lot of players. Owing to MI usually starting off slow, Irfan shared that MI would be very tough to stop if they get their season with a string of wins.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru made it to the cricketer-turned-commentator’s list to be the third side to make it through. Irfan observed that the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, RCB’s home venue, would be a confidence-booster for the Rajat Patidar-led side. The Baroda-born was of the opinion that the experience of Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar would be quite helpful for Patidar in his first season of leading the side. The firepower of Liam Livingstone and Tim David at the back end of the innings was another facet Irfan stressed on.
As for the fourth side, the ex-India star named his former franchise for whom he played for three seasons in a row, Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils). He highlighted their top three of Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, and potentially KL Rahul as a lethal weapon. Axar Patel being used as a floater in the batting order was another point he made. Irfan underlined the diversity of Axar and Kuldeep as far as the spin-bowling department is concerned. Other than Mitchell Starc’s brilliance, Irfan reinforced the potency of T Natarajan’s death-bowling ability.
Also Read: IPL 2025: Who will win the Orange Cap, Purple Cap, and MVP? Irfan Pathan predicts
Interestingly enough, although the former India cricketer did not completely rule out last season’s finalists, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, for making it to the knockouts, he had his apprehensions on the two sides due to certain players’ roles and performances. Lastly, he tagged Punjab Kings as the “dark horses” of this year’s edition. Irfan did not comment anything on Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants.
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