The incident occurred in the 18th over of the first innings when Archer was bowling to SRH’s Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen. After Klaasen hit consecutive boundaries off Archer, Harbhajan commented on air, “London me kaali taxi ka meter tez bhaagta hai, Aur yaha pe Archer sahab ka meter bhi tez bhaaga hai.”
The remark quickly sparked outrage on social media, with many fans demanding Harbhajan’s removal from the IPL 2025 commentary panel.
𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗵𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘇𝗲:
— Pakistan Cricket Team USA FC (@DoctorofCricket) March 23, 2025
He called Jofra Archer a "black London taxi" during live commentary During IPL.
Shame Shame Shame#HarbhajanSingh #JofraArcher #IPL2025 #RRvsSRH #CSKvsMI pic.twitter.com/zNPlVeBfgN
Archer had a tough game, conceding 76 runs without a wicket—the most expensive figures in IPL history, surpassing Mohit Sharma’s 0/73 for Gujarat Titans last year.
Obviously in the UK we get the #IPL2025 world feed so didn’t hear Harbhajan Singh and his awful racist comment about Archer first hand.
— Erika Morris (@ErikaMorris79) March 23, 2025
However plenty did and it’s time that IPL and Star Sports take a stance and take him off air.
On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad delivered a record-breaking performance, scoring 286/6—just two runs short of their highest-ever IPL total. Ishan Kishan led the charge with a stunning 45-ball century, helping SRH secure a 44-run victory over Rajasthan.
