Kuldeep Yadav became the 5th Indian to take a hattrick in international against Australia at iconic Eden Garden’s, Kolkata on 21st September. It is a rare feat for any bowler to pick up 3 wickets in succession at any level. The bowler needs to have variety, swing, pace which can trouble the batsmen in international cricket.
Here we look at 5 Indian bowlers to take a hattrick in international cricket.
Chetan Sharma was the first Indian to pick up a hattrick in One day International cricket. He achieved this feat during the group game of World Cup. This match took place on October 31st, 1987 against New Zealand in Nagpur. In that match, the fast bowler took wickets of Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith, and Ewen Chatfield. All three dismissals were bowled. It was a great spell of the bowling of Indian fast bowler which restricted New Zealand to 221 for 9 in 50 overs. The Indian batsmen lost only 1 wicket and chased down the target of 222 for loss of 1 wicket, winning it by 9 wickets with 107 balls to spare.
- Kapil Dev (1991)
One of the greatest all-rounders for India showed his skills with the ball taking a hattrick in ODI cricket. He picked 3 wickets in 3 balls against Sri Lanka played on 4th January 1991 at iconic Eden Garden’s, Kolkata of the Asia Cup finals. During this match, he grabbed Roshan Mahanama, Rumesh Ratnayake, and Sanath Jayasuriya. All three batsmen were dismissed in a different manner. Mahanama was caught by Kiran More, Ratnayake was LBW and Sanath Jayasuriya was caught by Sanjay Manjekar.
Kapil Dev hattrick helped India bowled Sri Lanka for 204 for 9 in 45 overs. India chased down the target with ease winning it by 7 wickets with 17 balls to spare. Kapil Dev took 4 for 31 in 9 overs.
The off-spinner Harbhajan Singh produced one of the magical spells for India. He picked up an hattrick during a historic test match played between 11th March to 15th March against Australia. This match was played at iconic Eden Garden’s, Kolkata.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat. With the score reading 252 for 4, Harbhajan Singh picked wickets of Steve Waugh, Ricky Pointing, and Shane Warne. Steve Waugh and Ricky Pointing were dismissed LBW while Shane Warne was caught by Ramesh. In the first innings, Singh took 7 wickets for 123.
India was bowled out for 171 and Australia decided to follow-on. In the second innings, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid played one of best knocks in Indian cricket adding 376 runs for the 5th wicket. India posted a mammoth total of 657 for 7 declared to give a target of 384 runs for Australia, Harbhajan Singh again was the star with the ball taking 6 for 73 helping the hosts win the match by 171 runs as Australia were bowled out for 212.
- Irfan Pathan (2006)
The best swing bowler for India picked up an hattrick in the test match against Pakistan played from 29th January to 1st February 2006 in Karachi. The pitch conditions on the first day were helpful for fast bowlers. He dismissed Salman Butt, Younis Khan, and Mohammed Yousuf. All three dismissals were different.
Salman Butt was caught by Dravid at slips for 0, Younis Khan LBW and Mohammed Yousuf bowled. Despite his brilliant hattrick, Pakistan was able to post 245 runs. Irfan Pathan took 5/61 in 17.1 overs. India was dismissed for 238 in their first innings with no big scores. Pakistan scored a massive total of 599 for 7 declare giving a target of 607 runs. India was bowled out for 265, as it gave the hosts a massive win by 341 runs.
Kuldeep Yadav became the 5th Indian bowler to pick up a hattrick in international cricket. He bowled with lots of variations which troubled the Australian batsmen. The match took place on 21st September 2017 played at Eden Garden’s, Kolkata.
Defending a modest total of 253, Kuldeep Yadav produced a magical spell taking wickets of Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, and Pat Cummins. Matthew Wade was bowled, Ashton Agar was given LBW and Pat Cummins was caught by MS Dhoni. It changed the course of the game. India won the match by 50 runs as Australia were bowled out for 202 in 43.1 overs helped Men in Blue to take a 2-0 lead in five-match ODI series.