A hat trick in any form of cricket let alone in T20 cricket is a huge effort. To get batsmen out off three successive deliveries requires a bowler to be immensely accurate, skilful and confident. There have been a total of 19 hat tricks taken in the Indian Premier League by 16 bowlers. Amit Mishra has picked up three hat tricks in the IPL while Yuvraj Singh has two IPL hat tricks. Fourteen other bowlers have one IPL hat trick each. But do you remember who took the first hattrick in IPL?
For the answer, you will have to cast your mind back to 2008, the first season of the IPL when the smiling assassin Lakshmipathy Balaji stunned Kings XI Punjab by nipping out three of their batsmen on the trot.
Lakshmipathy Balaji’s IPL career, akin to his India career was one with massive ups and down. But on May 10, 2008 he achieved a first in IPL history.
Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab, May 2008, Match 31
Lakshmipathy Balaji picks up IPL’s first hat trick
The stage was MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Super Kings’ home turf. Batting first, the Men in Yellow put up a strong 181/4 courtesy S Badrinath’s 47-ball 64 followed by a cracking 60 * from captain MS Dhoni.
Remember, this is 2008 and chasing scores of 180+ in IPL was still very much a luxury. Kings XI Punjab though wasn’t a team that would back down. Shaun Marsh got CSK off to a flyer thumping 58 off just 38 balls to keep his side very much in the chase.
Balaji though had other ideas. The bowler who had made his name in the Test circuit by virtue of being able to swing the ball both ways, had adapted brilliantly to the IPL frenzy. His slower balls and pinpoint yorkers were a thing of beauty. Balaji first sent back Ramnaresh Sarwan in the 12th over of the innings and four balls later removed the dangerous-looking Shaun Marsh.
Despite this the match remained evenly poised with Irfan Pathan obliterating the CSK bowlers. With 27 needed off the final over and set Pathan and Piyush Chawla, the chase was still well and truly on. Balaji bowling the crucial 20th over was smacked by Pathan over first ball over deep square leg for a massive six. The next ball was picked for two runs.
With the pressure all on Balaji, he delivered a perfect slower ball that Pathan could only loft as far as Suresh Raina at deep square leg. The next ball Piyush Chawal hit a low full toss straight to long off to give Balaji his fourth wicket of the match.
The hat trick ball, Balaji sent down a well-disguised slower short ball outside off. VRV Singh had no idea about it and the top-edge was snapped up easily by MS Dhoni as Balaji completed the first hat trick in IPL history. He finished with excellent figures of 5/26 to help CSK get the better of KXIP by 18 runs.
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Other hat tricks in IPL history
2008: Amit Mishra, Makhaya Ntini
The season saw two more hat tricks. Amit Mishra of Delhi Daredevils took one against Deccan Chargers in a group game. Makhaya Ntini of Chennai Super Kings also took a hat trick against Kolkata Knight Riders.
2009: Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma
Yuvraj Singh has not one but two IPL hat tricks to his name, both of which were recorded in 2009. His first hat trick of the season came against Royal Challengers Bangalore while the second was against Deccan Chargers. Surprisingly, Rohit Sharma also achieved a hat trick in the 2009 edition against Mumbai Indians.
2010: Praveen Kumar
Praveen Kumar recorded the only hat trick of the 2010 season. Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Praveen took out Damien Martyn, Sumit Narwal and Paras Dogra off consecutive deliveries.
2011: Amit Mishra
Amit Mishra claimed his second IPL hat trick in 2011 for Deccan Chargers against Kings XI Punjab.
2012: Ajit Chandila
Remember Ajit Chandila, who was caught in the infamous spot fixing scandal of IPL 2013? Well, before he got himself embroiled in the fiasco, Chandila was a pretty good bowler for Rajasthan Royals. He picked the only hat trick of IPL 2012 against Pune Warriors India.
2013: Amit Mishra, Sunil Narine
Amit Mishra took his third IPL hat trick in the 2013 edition when representing Sunrisers Hyderabad, he ran through the middle order of Pune Warriors India. Sunil Narine of Kolkata Knight Riders also claimed three in three against Kings XI Punjab.
2014: Pravin Tambe, Shane Watson
Pravin Tambe and Shane Watson took hat tricks in the 2014 edition with both achieving the feat for Rajasthan Royals.
2016: Axar Patel
Axar Patel claimed the only hat trick in IPL 2016 against Gujarat Lions.
2017: Samuel Badree, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat
There were three hat tricks recorded in 2017. Samuel Badree of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Lions’ Andrew Tye and Jaydev Unadkat of Rising Pune Supergiant all claimed three wickets in three balls.
2019: Sam Curran, Shreyas Gopal
Sam Curran tasted massive success in his first season of the IPL when he claimed a sensational hat trick against Delhi Capitals and helped Kings XI Punjab win a low-scoring match. Shreyas Gopal also took a hat trick in 2020, becoming the 19th player to claim a hat trick in IPL.
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