Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who has represented IPL franchises from Delhi, Punjab, and Hyderabad, has picked the favorites for IPL 2024‘s individual awards. Pathan recently appeared in ESPNcricinfo’s rapid-fire show where he was asked to choose the players he thinks are going to win individual laurels like – most runs, wickets, sixes, highest strike rates, and more. Therein he backed KKR batsman Rinku Singh to score the most sixes in the tournament.
The biggest and richest T20 spectacle of the world will begin today and anticipation is currently going over the roof. The 2-month-long event is going to be very exciting this year as we are going to witness some comebacks, some heated rivalries, and possibly the goodbye of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. While that remains to be seen, let’s find out Irfan Pathan’s picks for this edition’s brightest prospects.
Irfan Pathan says Rinku will be MVP, Rachin, and Kushagra to be the breakout stars
Complete Irfan Pathan’s playoffs prediction 👇 #TimeOut #IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/2S2nvyjsDh
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 22, 2024
The session started off with the question that who will be the Most Valuable Player in this year’s IPL. To that, Irfan Pathan exclaimed Rinku Singh, the one who did the unthinkable last year, smashed 5 sixes in a row to grab the win for KKR from a losing position
Then he was asked about those players who could possibly have their Breakout season. Irfan Pathan made the obvious choice of Chennai Super Kings’ Rachin Ravindra internationally and Delhi Capitals’ wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Kushagra as the possible domestic breakout star. “From domestic player, I think I’m really excited for Kumar Kushagra, he is a very exciting player, if he gets a chance, he’s the one to look for.” – Pathan said via ESPNcricinfo.
Irfan Pathan then wished for Rishabh Pant to be the one player, when asked about “Which new or returning captain will have the most impact.” The expression on Pathan’s face was extremely evident as he claimed that he wanted him to become that player after the accident and the 14-month recovery period he went through.
When asked to predict Mitchell Starc’s wicket-taking tally, Pathan said the Aussie will get 20 wickets. The one player to hit most sixes? Irfan Pathan replied with a bright smile, “Rinku Singh”. Will Virat Kohli have a 140+ strike rate or not? Pathan exclaimed, “he should”.
Irfan Pathan says Rohit Sharma will have his best IPL season, hopes to see games finish on time, and names 3 teams to reach play-offs
In the following segment, Irfan Pathan was asked to predict the runs Rohit Sharma will be scoring this IPL. To that, he said, “I think he will have one of the best season of IPL as far his stats are concerned.” He once again took the name of Rinku Singh when he was asked about one Indian player who can force his way into India’s T20 WC line-up.
The most interesting part came when Pathan had to mention one change he wished to see this IPL season. The 39-year-old desperately wants to see games being finished as quickly as possible since last year the games, especially the final, faced a lot of delays.
Lastly, Irfan Pathan had only 3 names to give when asked about the 4 teams to possibly reach the playoffs and they are Pandya’s MI, KL Rahul’s LSG, and Faf du Plessis’ RCB.
