IPL Commentators – Voices behind the world’s biggest cricket league

Indian Premier League (IPL) is much more than a grand cricketing extravaganza. It is a fusion of entertainment, high voltage cricket, and drama inside and outside the ground. However, another important aspect that makes this league a grand affair is their commentary. 

IPL commentators frame the atmosphere and describe the thrill of the ground through their words. IPL has prided itself on framing a diverse commentary panel, blending seasoned curators with fresh and intriguing perspectives. However, as we approach IPL 2025, speculations remain sky-high about the people who will bring the match to life. 

The JioCinema and Hotstar Merger: Revolutionizing broadcasting and commentary

Marking a significant development, JioCinema and Disney’s Hotstar have merged to form JioHotstar, creating a platform combining extensive content libraries with cutting-edge streaming technology. This merger is going to impact the esteemed commentary setup of IPL in many ways – 

• More emphasis on digital-first commentators – This landmark shift is likely to witness an influx of more new-age and new-format commentators who engage with the audiences beyond traditional broadcasting, bringing more innovative ways to attract a high level of viewership and fan engagement.
  
  
  
• Expanded regional coverage piled up with dynamic commentary options – While it has been clear from IPL 2024 that the broadcasters are highly focused on a wider audience base, the regional commentary options have been brought to ensure that every fan can enjoy the IPL in their preferred language. 
  
  Additionally, with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and streaming technology, there is a high chance that viewers will get the option to switch between analytical commentary and fan-driven panels.  

IPL 2025 English Commentators

Drawing up from the recent tournaments and industry buzz, the list of English commentators for the IPL 2025 is anticipated to be a star-studded group compiled with former grats as well as young juggernauts – some of the notable names on the list could be  – 

Katey Martin, Graeme Swann, Deep Dasgupta, Harsha Bhogle, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Anjum Chopra, Sunil Gavaskar, Ian Bishop, Nick Knight, Simon Katich, Chris Morris, Samuel Badree,  Ravi Shastri, Brian Lara, Matthew Hayden, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Clarke, Sanjay Manjrekar and Aaron Finch. 

IPL 2025 Hindi Commentators

The most lively form of commentary that spills emotions to every delivery bowled and every shot is none other than the Hindi commentary. Moreover, the language being one of the most basic ones in India, it is speculated to have some of the biggest names from Indian cricket in the realm of commentary – 

Jatin Sapru, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Karthik, Sunil Gavaskar, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Mohammed Kaif, Sanjay Manjrekar, Mithali Raj, Imran Tahir, Rajat Bhatia, Aakash Chopra, and Varun Aaron. 

Regional commentary Panels

While the specified names of the members of regional commentary panels for IPL 2025 are yet to surface, one thing is for sure – these panels are likely to have some big names, considering the overwhelming response the broadcasters received for their regional commentary last season. 

Tamil

Abhinav Mukund, S Badrinath, Lakshmipathi Balaji,Sastika Rajendra, K Srikkanth, Murali Vijay, Murugan Ashwin, N Jagadeesan Y Mahesh, Muthuraman R, KV Sathyanarayanan, Thirush Kamini, Bhavana Balakrishnan,, RJ Balaji.

Telugu

Ambati Rayudu, Mithali Raj, MSK Prasad, Venugopal Rao, T Suman, Kalyan Krishna D, Gnaneshwara Rao, Rakesh Deva Reddy, Daniel Manohar, Sasikanth Avulapalli, Ravi Rakle, M Anand Sri Krishna, Vindhya Medapati, Geeta Bhagat.

Hanuma Vihari, Venkatapathy Raju, Akshath Reddy, Ashish Reddy, Sandeep Bavanaka, Kalyan Kollarapu, RJ Hemanth, Pratyusha, RJ Koushik, and Sunitha Anand.

Kannada

Vijay Bharadwaj, Vinay Kumar, Gundappa Viswanath, Jagadeesh Suchith, NC Aiyappa, Pavan Deshpande, Akhil Balachandra, GK Anil Kumar, Sumesh Goni, Shashank Suresh, Roopesh Shetty, Kiran Srinivas, Madhu Mailankody.

Sreenath Aravind, Amit Verma, Veda Krishnamurthy, HS Sharath, Bharath Chipli, Sujay Shastry, Raghavendra Raj, Sumanth Bhat, Reena D’Souza, K Srinivas Murthy, Vasuki Koushik, and Ankita Amar.

Marathi

Kedar Jadhav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddhesh Lad, , Kiran More,Chaitanya Sant, Kunal Date, Prasanna Sant Paul Valthaty, Aditya Tare, Nilesh Natu, Prasad Kshirsagar, Sunil Vaidya.

Malayalam

Sachin Baby, Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Tinu Yohannan, Shiyas Mohammad, Vishnu Hariharan, CM Deepak, Rohan Prem, Raiphi Gomez, Sony Cheruvathur, Manu Krishnan, VA Jagadeesh, MD Nidish, Aju John Thomas, Renu Joseph, Binoy.

Gujarati

Akash Trivedi, Kirat Damani, Shailendrasinh Jadeja, Nayan Mongia and Manan Desai.

Ajay Jadeja, Manpreet Juneja, Rakesh Patel, Bhargav Bhatt, Sheldon Jackson, Atul Bedade, RJ Aseem.

Bangla

 Shreevats Goswami, Anustup Majumdar, Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Saradindu Mukherjee, Anindya Sengupta, Gautam Bhattacharya, Sanjay Banerjee, Argha Bhattacharya, Ashoke Dinda, and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala

Haryanvi

 Sonu Sharma, RJ Kisna, Ravin Kundu, Preeti Dahiya and Virender Sehwag.

Bhojpuri

Ravi Kishan, Mohd Saif, Shivam Singh, Satya Prakash, Gulam Hussain, Saurabh Kumar, Vishal Aditya Singh, Shalinee Singh, Sumit Kumar, and Ashutosh Aman.

Punjabi

Sarandeep Singh, Rahul Sharma, VRV Singh, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Chetan Sharma, Sunil Taneja, Gurjit Singh, Balraj Syal.

Also read, Salary of IPL commentators

Conclusion

The IPL has never been about just a mere battle of bat and ball. Rather, it has been hailed as a spectacle where the commentary has played a vital role as the game itself. As we now gear up for the 2025 season of this grand carnival of cricket, we can see a major shift in the commentary landscape. 

The commentary in the dynamic atmosphere of IPL is not just limited to some big names and putting on a textbook analysis in front of the viewers. The modern concept of commentary is framed on the pillars of engagement, relatability, and adapting to the fan bases who consume cricket differently, bringing on fresh and intriguing perspectives to the game.

Moreover, the introduction of regional commentary, especially in Hindi, Bhojpuri, and Punjabi, has become a driving force that is connecting IPL with the grassroots audience, ultimately resulting in a big rise in viewership.  

With JioHotstar revolutionizing the viewership experience of the world’s biggest cricket league, there are chances of some drastic evolutions in the commentary panel that is yet to come into the limelight.