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Shardul Thakur becomes the fifth Mumbai bowler to take a hat trick in Ranji Trophy on Thursday after he dismissed three Meghalaya batters on the last three balls of his second over of the ongoing Elite Group A match.
Shardul Thakur becomes 5th Mumbai bowler to take hat-trick in Ranji Trophy. (Picture Credit: PTI)
Star Indian cricketer Shardul Thakur entered his name in history on Thursday, January 30, by taking a hat trick for Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 Elite Group A match against Meghalaya, which is currently underway at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC in Mumbai. The 33-year-old fast bowler, who has played 11 Tests for India so far, dismissed three Meghalaya batters on the last three balls of his second over of the match.
Thakur is the fifth Mumbai/Bombay bowler to take a hat trick in the Ranji Trophy and the first since Royston Dias, who dismissed three batters in three balls during the 2023-24 season.
Watch the video here:
Mumbai bowlers to take hat-trick in Ranji Trophy
- Jehangir Khot: Bombay vs Baroda at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai (1943-44)
- Umesh Kulkarni: Bombay vs Gujarat at Shastri Maidan in Anand (1963-64)
- AM Ismail: Bombay vs Saurashtra at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai (1973-74)
- Royston Dias: Mumbai vs Bihar at Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna (2023-24)
- Shardul Thakur: Mumbai vs Meghalaya at BKC Ground in Mumbai (2024-25)
Shardul opened his wicket account on Thursday by dismissing Nishanta Chakraborty on the fourth ball of the match and then picked up his second wicket on the fourth ball of the second over by accounting for the dismissal of Balchander Anirudh. Thakur breached Anirudh’s defence and dismissed him for a three-ball duck. On the next ball, Shardul removed Sumit Kumar for a golden duck. Like Nishanta, Sumit was also caught by Shams Mulani. Shardul completed his hat trick by breaching Jaskirat Singh’s defence and shattering his stumps. Jaskirat was also dismissed for a golden duck.
Shardul’s magical show with the ball left Meghalaya struggling at 2 for 5 in 3 overs.
Shardul’s new ball partner, Mohit Avasthi, has also picked up two wickets so far in the match. He opened his account by taking Kishan Lyngdoh’s wicket on the last ball of the second over of the match. Kishan (0 off 4 balls) was caught by Akash Anand, and on the first ball of the fourth over, Mohit then clean bowled Arpit Subash Bhatewara.
The ongoing match against Meghalaya is a must-win for 42-time Ranji Trophy winners Mumbai.
Shardul has been in red-hot form these days. In his last Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai, Shardul top-scored for Mumbai in both innings against Jammu and Kashmir.
The member of India’s 2023 ODI World Cup squad scored 51 runs from 57 balls in the first innings after coming out to bat at No. 8, and in the second innings he hammered 119 runs from 135 balls. During his stay at the crease in the second innings, Shardul smashed 18 fours and added 184 runs for the eighth wicket with Tanush Kotian (62). But despite his memorable show with the bat, Mumbai suffered a shocking defeat by five wickets against Jammu and Kashmir.
