Since the inception of the India Premier League (IPL) in 2008, every edition there on has witnessed hat-trick or so, until 2014 edition. Capitalizing on this, IPL 2018 had a lot on an offer this time around for the sports fanatics when it comes to the bowling arsenal in particular of the distinct teams of an exciting league.
However, in 2016 and 2017, bowlers went on to register the rare feat in cricket except in the eighth edition of the cash-rich league.
There have been top-notch batsmen, who made batting look very easy owing to their batting prowess. But the bowlers have also evolved over the years and made better use of the conditions to deliver punch above their weight.
From Rohit Sharma to Yuvraj Singh there are various bowlers who brought batsmen to their knees with the white-ball.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra is leading the charts with three hat-tricks, whereas, star all-rounder Yuvraj bagged the hat-trick twice.
The bowlers have been not equally up to the task against batters, but they went on to boss the game as well in the shortest version of the game. And such has been the fascinating story of one of the successful leagues in the world.
The shortest competition is said to be tailor-made for batsmen. But the wily customers with the ball made batsmen have their task cut out in the riveting competition as well.
In the list of hat-trick takers, the five foreigner players include South African Makhaya Ntini, Windies Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree, Australian Shane Watson and Andrew Tye.
Sportzwiki has compiled a detailed list of all 17 hat-tricks in the IPL leg, so far.
Lakshmipathy Balaji- CSK vs KXIP in 2008:
Fast bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji, who serves now as a coach for Chennai Super Kings was the first man in the IPL history to seal the hat-trick.
Experienced campaigner Balaji achieved the feat when Kings XI Punjab needed 19 off just four deliveries.
However, following the impeccable line and length, Balaji went on to dismiss Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and then VRV Singh in successive balls to set his name into the record books.
Pathan was caught in the deep by Suresh Raina before Chawla holes out at long-off. VRV was caught by wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Balaji also finished his figures with the match figures of five for 24 in four overs.
Dhoni-led side clinched the fixture by 18 runs.
Amit Mishra- DD vs Deccan Chargers in 2008:
Known for his appetite to be among wickets, Amit Mishra proved it in the IPL. He is the most successful bowler when it comes to the most hat-tricks by a bowler in the league.
Mishra claimed his first hat-trick against now defunct Deccan Chargers when they required 15 to win in four balls.
However, Mishra first dismissed first Ravi Teja then left-handed Pragyan Ojha before Dinesh Karthik affected an easy stumping of Rudra Pratap (RP) Singh.
Mishra’s Second hat-trick
In his second hat-trick, Mishra donned Deccan Chargers jersey against which he registered his first-ever IPL hat-trick in 2008. It was an overall eighth hat-trick of IPL when Mishra struck the gold for the then Hyderabad-based franchise.
In 2011, Mishra dismissed Kings XI Punjab’s Ryan McLaren, Mandeep Singh and Ryan Harris before sealing the game by 82 runs.
The incident unfolded in the 16th over of KXIP when they were reeling at 102 for five.
Mishra’s Third hat-trick:
In the space of two years, Amit Mishra went on to register his third hat-trick against Pune Warriors India (PWI).
The senior leggie eked out the wickets of Bhuvneshwar Kumar followed by Rahul Sharma and Ashok Dinda. He achieved the feat in 19th over after Sunrisers post the meagre total on the board.
Makhaya Ntini- CSK vs KKR in 2008:
While representing Chennai Super Kings, South African former star bowler – to claim his first hat-trick in the burgeoning league while taking on Kolkata Knight Riders.
Interestingly, it turned out as the first-ever split hat-trick of the IPL. Ntini dismissed the left-handed batsman Sourav Ganguly in his second over. He made the return in his second spell to clean bowled D Das before undoing David Hussey.
Ntini bowled all three batsmen while uprooting the middle, leg and off-stump of respective batsmen.
Ntini finished his figures with four for 21.
Yuvraj Singh- KXIP vs RCB in 2009:
More known for his ferocious hitting, Yuvraj Singh registered two hat-tricks in the IPL.
The star all-rounder Yuvraj achieved the milestone against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The left-arm spinner brought the achievement on the same ground (Durban) where he smashed six sixes on the bowling of Stuart Broad.
Yuvraj claimed Robin Uthappa and Jacques Kallis in the 12th over before returning to trap Mark Boucher in front the stumps in RCB’s 14th over.
However, in the second edition of the IPL, Yuvraj brought his second hat-trick against Deccan Chargers.
Leading his team, Yuvraj brought his hat-trick by dismissing Herschelle Gibbs, before completing his hat-trick while dismissing Venugopal Rao. In the 14th over, Kumar Sangakkara stumped Andrew Symonds on his second attempt to set the hat-trick for a prominent cricketer.
In the end, Punjab clinched the nail-biter by just a run when Chargers required a total of 135.
Rohit Sharma- DC vs MI in 2009:
Rohit Sharma, who is known for his fireworks in the white-ball cricket with the bat, has delivered gold with the ball in his rarest of the opportunities to roll over the arm. It also puzzled him after claiming the hat-trick against his current team Mumbai Indian wayback in 2009.
While representing Deccan Chargers, Rohit picked the wickets of Abhishek Nayar followed by Harbhajan Singh before picking Jean-Paul Duminy to celebrate his hat-trick in style.
Praveen Kumar- RCB vs RR in 2010:
In 2010 edition, the only hat-trick is registered by Praveen Kumar, who represented Royal Challengers Bangalore. He made things worse for Rajasthan Royals.
The game which RCB won by 10 wickets after strangulating Royals on just 92, Kumar went on to dismiss overseas batter, Damien Martyn. He further dismissed Sumit Narwal and Paras Dogra to burst into the celebration.
Ajit Chandila- RR vs PWI in 2012:
Ajit Chandila also claimed the hat-trick while facing off Pune Warriors India for Rajasthan Royals.
He completed the first hat-trick by sending Robin Uthappa back to the hut. The first two wickets include the then PWI skipper Sourav Ganguly and the New Zealand-based power hitter Jesse Ryder.
Sunil Narine- KKR vs KXIP in 2013
The ace spinner Sunil Narine has been the hottest property of the distinct T20 leagues. He claimed the hat-trick in a losing encounter for Kolkata Knight Riders while facing Kings XI Punjab in the sixth season of IPL.
Narine hunts down Azhar Mahmood after David Hussey and he went on to claim Gurkeerat Singh Mann’s wicket—to acknowledge the crowd.
Pravin Tambe- RR vs KKR in 2014:
Pravin Tambe served as the vital cog in Rajasthan Royals’ wheel. Moreover, he proved himself with the bowling.
Interestingly, in the seventh edition, Tambe got the two-ball hat-trick. It is referred it the wicket would come off an illegitimate delivery such as a stumping.
Similarly, Manish Pandey perished while being stumped off a wide delivery. Tambe also got rid of Yusuf Pathan and Ryan Ten Doeschate.
Shane Watson- RR vs SRH in 2014:
Overall, Australian all-rounder, Shane Watson got an overall 13th hat-trick of IPL history while representing Jaipur-based franchise Rajasthan Royals.
Watson picked three-in-a-row against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He bagged the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques and Karn Sharma.
Axar Patel- KXIP vs GL in 2016:
Young spinner Axar Patel bagged his first hat-trick in the ninth edition of IPL. Kings XI Punjab owing to the retention policy for IPL 2018 retained Patel in January.
While coming to the rescue of the Mohali-based outfit, Patel got Ravindra Jadeja in the very first ball of the Gujarat Lions’ to seal his hat-trick. However, in the seventh hour, he claimed the wickets of Dinesh Karthik and DJ Bravo to set himself up for the hat-trick.
Karthik is now leading Kolkata Knight Riders to marshal his troops in the eleventh season.
Samuel Badree- RCB vs MI in 2017:
Prominent leg-spinner and experienced bowler, Samuel Badree claimed one of the hat-tricks in the 10th edition of IPL in 2017.
Badree registered the hat-trick against the defending champions Mumbai Indians. He picked the wickets of Parthiv Patel, Mitchell McClenaghan and bowled Rohit Sharma in his sensation over.
McClenaghan was caught at the long-on region by Mandeep Singh after Chris Gayle pouched a simple catch of wicketkeeper-batsman Patel in his bucket like hands.
Andrew Tye- GL vs RPS in 2017:
Andrew Tye is known for his remarkable performances in the T20 leagues. He also proved why he is considered one of the best bowlers in the shortest paced competition.
In his dream debut of the IPL, Tye was trying all different tactics to make things difficult for the batters. He bagged five wickets after conceding 17 runs.
While donning the jersey of Gujarat Lions, Tye produced terrific figures against runners-up of tenth edition Rising Pune Supergiant(s).
Oustanding Tye bagged his hat-trick with the help of dismissing Ankit Sharma before showing the exit door to Manoj Tiwary and Shardul Thakur.
Jaydev Unadkat- RPS vs SRH in 2017:
Promising fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat gave a splendid win to his team Rising Pune Supergiant(s). Hyderabad required 13 off six balls.
Doing the commendable job for Steven Smith-led side, Unadkat went on to dismiss Bipul Sharma followed by Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to express his joy.
However, RPS went on to clinch the exciting encounter by 12 runs.
Exciting bowler Unadkat achieved the feat in the 44th fixture of the tenth year. He eventually became overall 14th bowler in IPL history to join the club of hat-tricks.
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