Irfan Pathan, a former Indian all-rounder, recently made some intriguing predictions regarding the 18th Indian Premier League season. After the league phase ended, he detailed his selections in regard to the four teams he believed would finish in the top four.
IPL 2025 has already seen a great deal of exciting action develop after six games. Teams will naturally take some time to identify their best XI, strengths, and weaknesses. All teams have participated in at least one match as of Thursday, March 27.
It’s unclear how the tournament will play out in the next days because each team’s squad makeup was significantly altered by the massive auction that took place in November 2024. Therefore, it would be a little inaccurate to base a prediction only on the previous season’s standings.
Irfan Pathan Playoff Prediction
Irfan predicted that the Chennai Super Kings would win the league. “Spin to win” was their motto, which he said would help them succeed. He underlined how crucial Noor Ahmad, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin were to their setup. The former cricket player did, however, add that it was still unclear how much MS Dhoni would bat (in terms of his batting order), how well Ruturaj Gaikwad would perform in the powerplay, and how Devon Conway would perform after missing the entire previous season due to injury.
The Mumbai Indians were the next team Irfan chose. He noted that one of the most important factors in their success will be the confidence that captain Hardik Pandya has gained following a number of strong showings in the Champions Trophy 2025 and the T20 World Cup 2024. In addition to the more seasoned group of players, the cricketer-turned-commentator included other match-winners in their side, including Allah Ghazanfar and Mitchell Santner. Irfan revealed that MI would be extremely difficult to stop if they start the season with a run of victories because they often start the season slowly.
As the third team to advance, Royal Challengers Bengaluru made the list of cricketers who are now commentators. Irfan noted that the Rajat Patidar-led team would feel more confident at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where RCB plays. The Baroda native believed Patidar’s debut season as team captain will benefit greatly from Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s expertise. Another aspect that Irfan emphasised was the firepower of Tim David and Liam Livingstone towards the conclusion of the innings.
Regarding the fourth team, the former Indian player identified the Delhi Capitals (formerly the Delhi Daredevils), the team he played for for three consecutive seasons. He pointed out that their top three weapons were Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, and possibly KL Rahul. He also brought up the issue of Axar Patel being utilised as a floater in the batting order. Regarding the spin-bowling area, Irfan emphasised the diversity of Axar and Kuldeep. In addition to Mitchell Starc’s skill, Irfan emphasised T Natarajan’s death-bowling prowess.
It’s interesting to note that while the former India cricket player did not entirely exclude the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, the finalists from the previous season, for reaching the knockout stages, he did have concerns about their respective roles and performances. Finally, he called the Punjab Kings this year’s “dark horses” in the tournament. Regarding the Gujarat Titans and the Lucknow Super Giants, Irfan had no remarks.
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