Twitter Reactions: Irfan Pathan turns commentator in IPL 2018

The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) started in a stupendous fashion with visitors Chennai Super Kings piping the home side Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener. Mumbai were looking at a comfortable victory till the 177th over of the game. However, a determined Dwyane Bravo made sure that it was his team that crossed the line, eventually with the help from an injured Kedar Jadhav who scored the winning runs.

The opening game saw the Mumbai fans constantly supporting and cheering for the visitors as well who were led by the legend, MS Dhoni. Dhoni received a loud cheer when we walked out for the toss as well. This was CSK’s re-entry after they were suspended for 2 years from the IPL by the Supreme Court. And it was quite a return game.

With the massive fan following, the IPL has been all around the world and the commentary happening in a number of local languages as well. A number of former and current players have been roped in for the commentary in the regional languages.

Irfan in the commentary box

Marking his entry in the commentary box was Irfan Pathan who played all the ten seasons of the IPL before this. The 33-year-old Vadodara pacer played for Gujarat Lions in the last year and wasn’t picked for the tournament this time around. Pathan took Twitter to announce that he was making his entry in the commentary box for Hindi viewers alongside the likes of Kapil Dev, Murali Karthik, and Mohammed Kaif

Joining him for their first-ever stint in the commentary were Rajat Bhatia, Ashok Dinda, and Pragyan Ojha. Bhatia and Dinda featured for Rising Pune Supergiant in the previous edition of the IPL but found no team wanting them for this year’s tournament. However, the two will continue to connect with the IPL as Bhatia along with Ojha will join Pathan as the Hindi commentator while Dinda will call the match in Bengali.

Here is his tweet:

Looking forward to the new stint as a commentator for @StarSportsIndia @IPL big game today… let’s play #VIVOIPLonStar

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 7, 2018

This is how the fans reacted:

New role, New responsibilities, And new @IrfanPathan ! its a pleasure to see you in the commentary box bhai 🙂 Keep it up and all the best ! @StarSportsIndia @IPL #VivoIPL2018

— Earth-Quake ❤️ (@BigdaShehzada_) April 8, 2018

Irfan bhai aapki commentary bhot achi thi

— Aquib Khan (@AquibKh29490618) April 8, 2018

your new journey as a commentrator is really wow…and fantastic …it is ur commentry six???..
and ball gai satdium par@IrfanPathan

— अपर्णा शर्मा ?? हिन्दुस्तानी (@aparnas90427020) April 7, 2018

I wanna see you again as a Player not commentry person…Come back again ✌️?❤️

— Dinar kulkarni ?? (@vaibhavkulkarn8) April 7, 2018

My best wishes to @IrfanPathan sir for starting new innings of commentary… Congratulations and best wishes!!

— Rishang Sharma (@RishangRSharma) April 7, 2018

Thank you @StarSportsIndia for bringing my all time favorite cricketer @IrfanPathan into the comm box #VIVOIPL

— NaVeEn MaRcUs (@itzzmenaveen) April 7, 2018

@IrfanPathan bhaijaan mza aa rha h aapki commentry me….pure knowledge of cricket?

— shezaankhan (@shezaan91) April 7, 2018

@IrfanPathan really enjoying ur voice … Thank you for entertaining us with ur fresh voice …! @StarSportsIndia Hindi ! Thank you irfan sir

— Sachin Tendulkar £© (@Sachin_rt_200) April 7, 2018