Adorned with a healthy number of spectators, the iconic Eden Gardens on Thursday witnessed India’s spinner Kuldeep Yadav claiming a hat-trick, a feat that no national cricketer achieved in ODIs since 1991.
In the backdrop of India’s 50-run win over Australia in the second ODI, Yadav enjoyed his day to the fullest as he dismissed Mathew Wade, Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins in the 33rd over.
With this, the 22-year-old Chinaman bowler became the third Indian bowler to claim a hat-trick in an ODI match. Earlier, fast bowler Chetan Sharma had done the same against New Zealand in 1987, followed by Kapil Dev’s hat-trick against Sri Lanka in 1991.
Chetan achieved the feat in Nagpur, while Kapil scripted history at the Eden Gardens. Therefore, Yadav was the second bowler to notch up an ODI hat-trick in the Kolkata venue that was established in 1864.
The Kanpur spinner credited MS Dhoni for his achievement, saying the former India captain guided him from behind the stump.
“I asked Mahi bhai, what should I bowl. He said ‘tujhe jaisa bhi lagta hai, woh daal (bowl the way you want to)’. I was very happy that he backed me,” Yadav said in the post-match presentation.
This wasn’t the first time when the Chinaman bowler made his nation proud. Earlier in 2014, Yadav had taken a hat-trick for India in the Under-19 World Cup, in a match against Scotland.
Both Chetan and Kapil had taken a hat-trick while bowling first in their respective matches, albeit, Yadav took the same while defending a small total of 252 runs for India.
These is how the all three bowlers took hat-tricks in their respective matches
- Chetan Sharma (1987): Ken Rutherford (b), Ian Smith (b) and Ewen Chatfield (b)
- Kapil Dev (1991): Roshan Mahanama [(c) Kiran More], Rumesh Ratnayake (lbw), Sanath Jayasuirya [(c) Sanjay Manjrekar]
- Kuldeep Yadav (2017): Matthew Wade (b), Ashton Agar (lbw), Pat Cummins [(c) MS Dhoni]