Kuldeep Yadav stole the limelight in the second One-Day International in Kolkata against Australia by becoming only the third Indian to pick up a hat-trick in ODIs.

The wrist spinner sent back Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins in as many balls with a brilliant delivery to get his hat-trick. Yadav first got through Wade’s stumps, then trapping Agar in front and for the coup de grace, he bowled the wrong one that took a thick edge of Cummins’ bat before landing into the hands of MS Dhoni.

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It was a moment to savour for the 22-year-old who joined an elite list of ODI hat-trick takers. Here’s a look at some of the big numbers around Yadav’s achievement.

An elite list

  • Yadav’s hat-trick was the 44th in One Day Internationals, and only the third by an Indian. 
  • Yadav joined Kapil Dev (1991) and Chetan Sharma (1987) in a select club of Indians who have picked up a hat-trick.
  • Apart from Sharma, Dev and Yadav in ODIs, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan have done it in Tests.
  • This is not the first time Yadav has taken a hat-trick for India. In the 2014, he become the first Indian to take a hat-trick in the Under-19 World Cup, achieving the feat against Scotland. He is also the first player to do it at both the Under-19 and senior level.
  • The last Indian hat-trick also came at the Eden Gardens, when Kapil Dev got three in a row against Sri Lanka in 1991.
  • In fact, Indian hat-trick heroes seems to have a special connection with Eden gardens. Three of India’s five international hat-tricks have come at Eden Gardens, with Harbhajan Singh achieveing the feat in Tests against Australia in 2001.
  • Only two wrist spinners have taken ODI hat-tricks and both have come this year – Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga against Zimbabwe in Galle in July and Yadav in Kolkata. 

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