Harbhajan Singh under fire for comparing Jofra Archer to 'Kaali Taxi'; Fans call for his removal from IPL commentary panel

Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has come under fire for comparing England fast bowler Jofra Archer to a 'black taxi' during the commentary for the IPL 2025 match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

The incident took place in the 18th over of the SRH’s innings when Archer was bowling to Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen. Harbhajan’s statement came when Klaasen smashed consecutive boundaries against Archer on the second and third ball of the over. 

"London me kaali taxi ka meter tez bhaagta hai, Aur yaha pe Archer sahab ka meter bhi tez bhaaga hai (Like the meter of London’s black taxis, Archer’s meter has also been on the higher side),” Harbhajan quipped on air.

His remarks sparked a major row on social media, with fans calling for his immediate suspension from the IPL 2025 commentary panel. 

“Harbhajan Singh has called Jofra Archer a black taxi driver with a high meter value just now in the Hindi commentary.  This is vile and disgusting. Please ban him,” a user said. 

“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.

However plenty did and it’s time that IPL and Star Sports take a stance and take him off air,” another user said. 

“England mein kaali taxi kar meter bohot tez chalta hai aaj Jofra ka  meter bhi waisa hi chal rha??? Get this racist Harbhajan Singh out of commentary,” a third user said. 

This is not the first time the former Indian spinner has been embroiled in a racism row. In 2008, Harbhajan Singh was found guilty of making a racist comment to Andrew Symonds on the third day of the Sydney Test. 

Meanwhile, England pace bowler Jofra Archer claimed the unwanted record of the most expensive IPL spell with 0-76 in four overs. As for the match, the SRH posted a whopping 286 runs on the board, the second-highest total in IPL history. Hyderabad's new recruit Ishan Kishan sparkled earlier with an unbeaten 106 off 47 balls that had 11 fours.