Darshan Nalkande made his IPL debut in Match 16 of IPL 2022 played between Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. Nalkande conceded 37 runs and picked 2 wickets in the game. He dismissed Jitesh Sharma and Odean Smith on consecutive deliveries.

Nalkande said in the Mid-innings break: I was nervous but Ashish sir and Hardik gave me good confidence before the match. I have gotten an opportunity after many years, and am looking to do well for the team. I was just looking to execute whatever Hardik was telling me. The wicket is very good for batting and it is coming nicely onto the bat.

Here are 3 facts which you should know about Darshan Nalkande:

#3 Domestic Cricket

Nalkande made his List A debut for Vidarbha in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He made his first-class debut in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy. In 22 T20 matches, he has picked 43 wickets at an average of 12.76 and Strike Rate 10.5. He made his T20 debut in the 2018–19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

#2 Double Hat-trick

In cricket, four wickets in four balls is referred to as a ‘double hat-trick’. Darshan Nalkande is one of the few bowlers to achieve this feat.

Vidarbha and Karnataka faced each other in Semi-Final 2 of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22. Nalkande dismissed Aniruddha Joshi, Sharath BR, J Suchith and Abhinav Manohar on consecutive deliveries, in the last over of Karnataka innings.

With this, he became the 2nd Indian player to take a double hat-trick in T20 cricket. Abhimanyu Mithun was the first.

#1 IPL

Nalkande was a part of Punjab Kings from 2019-21. However he couldn’t feature in the Playing XI. The experience of working with players like Mohammed Shami and KL Rahul helped him in domestic cricket.

Talking to Sportskeeda, Nalkande had said: “When you play with such big cricketers, you obviously get to learn a lot. Just by being with them, you get to learn more about their cricketing sense, tactics and other things. I chatted a lot with Mohammed Shami bhai and Rahul bhai [KL Rahul].”

In the IPL 2022 Mega-auctions, he was bought by the Gujarat Titans for INR 20 Lakhs.

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