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A Hattrick is a dream for any bowler. To pick 3 wickets in 3 balls needs a lot of skill and an able mind to do it. Kuldeep Yadav has achieved this feat not once, but twice in his 55-match ODI career.
Here we look at some of the other Hattrick heroes for India in one day international.
The right-arm fast-medium bowler from Punjab was the first player from India to take a HatTrick in ODIs, and that too in a big-ticket event, World Cup in Nagpur. India needed to win big against New Zealand that day on 31st October 1987.
New Zealand batted first and was bowled out for 222 runs. Chetan Sharma registered the first-ever world cup hattrick, as he accounted for Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith, and Ewen Chatfield with the last three balls of his sixth over. India went on to win that match and secured a home semi-final, but then lost to England in the semi-final.
The Haryana Hurricane put up a show against Sri Lanka by picking up a Hattrick in the Asia Cup final 1991 which helped India lift the trophy then. After having accomplished so much in his career, the one feather that was missing from his cap was the Hattrick. It was in the Eden Gardens, in front of a packed ground, Kapil took the wicket of Roshan Mahanama as he edged to Kiran More on the last ball of an over and then came back to take the wickets of Rumesh Ratnayake, caught by Sanjay Manjrekar and Sanath Jayasurya was his Hattrick wicket, who was trapped LBW.
This was Kapil’s only Hattrick in international cricket which went completely unnoticed as there is no video coverage of this Hattrick
Kuldeep and Chahal were turning out to be a deadly combination in one-day internationals at that point in time. They both were destroying the oppositions and picked loads of wickets in the middle overs of the game. Kuldeep Yadav took a Hattrick in 2017 in Eden Gardens against Australia which was the first Hattrick for India in 26 years.
India took on Australia in the 2nd ODI after batting first India posted 252, in return Australia was never really in the game, thanks to some tight bowling from Hardik and Bhuvneshwar, but the historic moment happened in the 33rd over of the Australian innings when Kuldeep picked 3 wickets in 3 balls, his scalps being, Wade, Ashton Agar, and Pat Cummins. Wade was bowled, Agar was trapped LBW, and Pat Cummins was caught by Dhoni off a wrong’un. India went on to win the game and Kuldeep became the 3rd Indian to pick a Hattrick in ODIs
It was the world cup match between India and Afghanistan, and India had a tough time in this match as Afghanistan gave a stunning performance and almost would have won the game if not for this Hattrick from Shami. India posted a mediocre 224 runs on the board after batting first.
Afghanistan began their chase but Indian bowlers never really allowed them to score runs freely. It was all down to the last over when they needed 18 runs from 6 balls, Shami bowled the over for India. Mohammad Nabi was on strike and he belted the 1st ball for a four. It was down to 14 from 5 when Shami took control of the game where he took 3 wickets in 3 balls and bowled out Afghanistan as India won the game by 13 runs. Shami’ scalps being Nabi caught at long-on boundary, and then clean bowled Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman to complete his 1st Hattrick in ODIs.
India lost the 1st game and was in a 4 match losing streak on Indian soil, then this happened. India posted a mammoth 387 runs on the board, thanks to centuries from Rohit and Rahul. West Indies was never really in the game, chasing the big target, they started well but run out of Shimron Hetmyer turned out to be a turning point as West Indies collapsed after a brief partnership from Pooran and Hope.
It was again in the 33rd over when Kuldeep took his 2nd Hattrick. He took his 1st Hattrick against Australia in the 33rd over as well. Kuldeep took the wickets of Hope, Holder, and Alzarri Joseph to complete his Hattrick, thereby becoming the 1st India to take two ODI Hat-Tricks.