Flashback: The first hat-trick for India in international cricket
A hat trick is a rare achievement in the sport of cricket. A bowler has to grab three wickets on consecutive deliveries of three different players to seal the milestone. For team India, Chetan Sharma scripted history when he came the first-ever player to pick a hat-trick for his country in international cricket against the Kiwis in 1987.
Chetan got to the milestone against New Zealand in the 1987 World Cup held in India. He became the first Indian and third overall back then to claim three wickets off successive deliveries in the one-day international format.
In the 24th match of the marquee tournament, the New Zealanders batted first and posted 221/9 on the board in their allotted 50 overs. Pacer Chetan was the pick of the bowlers for team India as he registered the figures of 3/51 in ten overs, which included two maidens and a hat-trick.
A special hat-trick
He dismissed Ken Rutherford for 26, Ian Smith, and Ewen Chatfield as he etched his name into the history books. India won the encounter by nine wickets. Sunil Gavaskar won the Player of the Match award for his unbeaten century (103*).
Born on January 03, 1966, in Ludhiana, Punjab, Chetan played 65 ODIs and picked up 67 wickets at an average of 34.86 and a strike rate of 42.3 with an economy rate of 4.94. In 63 innings, he recorded the best bowling figures of 3/22.
Having made his ODI debut against West Indies in Jamshedpur in December 1983, Chetan also played 23 Test matches. His last appearance came against the same opposition in Jaipur in 1994 as he ended his 11-year career. A total of 49 hat-tricks have occurred in the format to date with Chetan’s being the third instance.
