IPL 2025: Irfan Pathan shares his best XII of the season

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the IPL 2025, bagging their maiden IPL title in 18 years and bringing a lot of joy to their passionate fanbase. Throughout the tournament, not only from RCB, but there were several players from different franchises who performed. 

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Now, former Team India player Irfan Pathan shared his best XII on his YouTube channel, and players like Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians skipper) and Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans skipper) failed to get a place.

Pathan named RCB’s Virat Kohli and GT’s Sai Sudharsan as his two openers. Kohli finished the season in the third spot in the Orange Cap race with 657 runs, while Sudharsan topped the list with 759. Then, at number three, GT’s Jos Buttler has been selected; he scored 538 runs. As captain, Pathan showed faith in the Punjab Kings captain, Shreyas Iyer. 

Both as a captain and as an individual batter, he shone and led from the front. With the bat, he scored 604 runs, and after leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the title in 2024, he led PBKS to the final in 2025. It was only PBKS’s second time in an IPL final — their first in 11 years.

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The most valuable player, Player of the Tournament, MI’s Suryakumar Yadav, comes in the next spot as he scored 717 runs and was second in the Orange Cap race. Pathan has picked Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Heinrich Klaasen as his wicketkeeper-batter; he scored 487 runs. 

MI’s Naman Dhir excelled throughout the tournament in his new ‘finisher’ role down the order, scoring 252 runs at a strike rate of 182.60, and hence, Pathan has also picked him. RCB’s Krunal Pandya, the Player of the Match award winner in the final, managed a place as his all-round contribution (109 runs and 17 wickets) would provide great balance. 

Chennai Super Kings’ Noor Ahmad finished the Purple Cap race in the second spot with 24 wickets, and Pathan has picked him as his leading spinner. Pathan picked MI’s Jasprit Bumrah (18 wickets), RCB’s Josh Hazlewood (22 wickets), and GT’s Prasidh Krishna (25 wickets, Purple Cap winner) as his three pacers. 

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Considering that only four overseas players are there (Buttler, Klaasen, Noor, and Hazlewood), it seems that Sai Sudharsan or Naman Dhir can be used as an impact sub in this team according to the situations.         

Irfan Pathan’s Best XII

Virat Kohli, Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Naman Dhir, Krunal Pandya, Noor Ahmad, Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, and Prasidh Krishna. 

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