The 5 hat-tricks by Indian bowlers in ODI cricket
A hat-trick is a rare occurrence in any form of cricket, and only 49 hat-tricks have been taken in the history of ODI cricket.
Pakistan's Jalal-ud-Din became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in ODI cricket, when he did so against Australia in 1982. Lasith Malinga has taken 3 hat-tricks in ODI cricket, the most by any bowler, including an instance when he took 4 wickets off consecutive deliveries.
There have been 5 instances when an Indian bowler has taken a hat-trick in ODI cricket. Three Indian bowlers - Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Jasprit Bumrah - have managed to bag a hat-trick in Test cricket, while Deepak Chahar is the only Indian to have taken a hat-trick in T20Is.
On that note, let us have a look at the 5 occasions when an Indian bowler bagged a hat-trick in ODI cricket.
The 5 hat-tricks by Indian bowlers in ODI cricket
#1: Chetan Sharma - India vs New Zealand, 1987
Chetan Sharma was the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in ODI cricket. The Haryana pace bowler achieved this distinction in India's group stage match against New Zealand in the 1987 World Cup.
Jeff Crowe, the Kiwi captain, won the toss and elected to bat first. New Zealand had reached a score of 182 for the loss of 5 wickets, with Ken Rutherford and Martin Snedden at the crease.
While the Blackcaps were looking to press the accelerator, Chetan Sharma put paid to their hopes. He first rocked back Rutherford's middle stump, with the batsman clean bowled for an individual score of 26.
Sharma got the better of the usually destructive Ian Smith for a golden duck off the very next delivery, with the off-stump pegged back in this case. The following delivery saw Ewen Chatfield's leg stump disturbed, with the ball going between his legs.
Chetan Sharma thus achieved the distinction of being the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in an ODI match. He had also become the first bowler in the world to achieve the feat in a World Cup encounter.
Although Sharma did not take any other wickets, his hat-trick helped India restrict New Zealand to a score of 221/9 in their allotted 50 overs.
India chased down the target easily in just 32.1 overs with 9 wickets in hand. Sunil Gavaskar was the star of the run chase with an unbeaten 103, his only century in ODI cricket.
Chetan Sharma and Gavaskar were jointly awarded the Man of the Match.
#2: Kapil Dev - India vs Sri Lanka, 1991
Kapil Dev was the second Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in ODI cricket. The Chandigarh swing bowler achieved this feat in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka, played at the Eden Gardens in 1991.
Mohammad Azharuddin, the Indian captain, won the toss and opted to field first in a match reduced to 45 overs per side. The Lankans had reached a score of 175/4 with around 7 overs left in their innings, and were looking to take advantage of the final few overs.
Dev first had Roshan Mahanama caught behind off the last ball of the 38th over. The Indian cause was helped by the set Arjuna Ranatunga getting run out in the next over.
The 1983 World Cup-winning captain then had Sanath Jayasuriya caught by Sanjay Manjrekar with the first delivery of his next over. He proceeded to trap Rumesh Ratnayake plumb in front of the stumps to complete his hat-trick.
Sri Lanka was restricted to a score of 204/9 at the end of the 45 overs. Kapil Dev bagged another wicket in the last over to finish with figures of 4/31 off his 9 overs.
India chased down the target without much difficulty, winning by 7 wickets with almost 3 overs to spare. Sanjay Manjrekar (75*), Sachin Tendulkar (53) and Azharuddin (54* off 39 balls) were the principal run-getters for India.
Although Mohammad Azharuddin was awarded the Man of the Match for his attacking knock, the match is remembered more for Kapil Dev's hat-trick.
#3: Kuldeep Yadav - India vs Australia, 2017
Kuldeep Yadav was the third Indian bowler and the first Indian spinner to take a hat-trick in ODI cricket. He achieved this feat in the 2nd ODI of Australia's tour to India, also played at the Eden Gardens, in 2017.
Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, won the toss and opted to bat first. India was all out for 252 runs off the last ball of the 50th over, with the captain himself top-scoring with 92 runs to his name.
Australia had reached a score of 148/5 in 32 overs, with another 105 runs required off the remaining 108 deliveries. With the match very much in the balance, Yadav ran through the Aussie lower middle-order to take India closer to victory.
The left-arm wrist-spinner first had Matthew Wade bowled off an inside edge, while trying to play the cut shot. Ashton Agar missed a full toss to be caught plumb in front of the wicket off the very next delivery.
Yadav completed his hat-trick by having Pat Cummins caught behind by MS Dhoni off a well-disguised googly. This 3-wicket burst reduced Australia to 148/8, to virtually end the match as a contest.
Although Marcus Stoinis did strike some lusty blows, the damage had already been done. The Aussies folded up for 202 runs to eventually lose the match by 50 runs.
Virat Kohli was deservedly awarded the Man of the Match. But it was a memorable day for Kuldeep Yadav as well, as he had etched his name in the record books.
#4: Mohammed Shami - India vs Afghanistan, 2019
Mohammed Shami was the fourth Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in ODI cricket and the second to do so in a World Cup encounter. He achieved this distinction in India's group stage match against Afghanistan in the 2019 World Cup.
Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. India was restricted to a below-par score of 224/8 in their allotted 50 overs, with the captain and Kedar Jadhav hitting half-centuries.
With India on the lookout for early wickets, Shami castled Hazratullah Zazai in the 7th over to provide the initial breakthrough. Although the Indian bowlers kept a tight leash on the run rate, Afghanistan was never out of the game.
Shami was entrusted to bowl the final over with Afghanistan needing 16 runs off the final 6 deliveries. The pressure was on Shami as Mohammad Nabi struck the first ball for a boundary, also bringing up his fifty in the process.
The Bengal seamer got the all-important wicket with the 3rd ball of the over, having Nabi caught by Hardik Pandya at long-on.
Shami clean-bowled Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman with perfect yorkers off the next 2 deliveries to win the match for India and also bag the hat-trick.
India won the match by a narrow margin of 11 runs. Jasprit Bumrah was awarded the Man of the Match, for a crucial couple of wickets he took in the middle overs and his miserly spell at the death. But Shami's hat-trick had also played a crucial role in closing out the match in favour of India.
#5: Kuldeep Yadav - India vs West Indies, 2019
Kuldeep Yadav bagged the fifth hat-trick by an Indian bowler in ODI cricket. He also became the first Indian bowler to take 2 hat-tricks in ODI cricket. He achieved this feat in the 2nd ODI of West Indies' tour of India, played at Vizag, in 2019.
Kieron Pollard, the West Indian captain, won the toss and opted to chase. India posted a mammoth 387/5 on the board, on the back of centuries from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
West Indies had reached a score of 203/5 in 32 overs, and required another 185 runs at a run rate of more than 10 runs per over. Yadav had the well-set Shai Hope brilliantly caught by Kohli at the deep mid-wicket boundary off the fourth ball of the 33rd over.
Jason Holder was stumped by Rishabh Pant off the very next delivery. The wrist-spinner then had Alzarri Joseph caught by Jadhav at 2nd slip off the final ball of the over to complete his hat-trick.
Kuldeep Yadav thus became the 1st Indian bowler to take two hat-tricks in ODI cricket. Coincidentally, both his hat-tricks came in the 33rd over of the innings.
West Indies were bowled out for 280 runs as India went on to win the match by 107 runs. Although Rohit Sharma was awarded the Man of the Match for his innings of 159 runs, Kuldeep Yadav had scripted another glorious chapter in his short international career in ODI cricket.