Kuldeep Yadav’s hat-trick against Australia not his first in India colours

India’s left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has been nothing short of a sensation for the team in the early stages of his career. He has proved his worth time and again in the limited opportunities he has got. Now in the ongoing ODI series against Australia he is just beginning to unfurl his best side. The youngster bowled superbly and picked up a hat-trick which lit up the Eden Gardens on Thursday. However, the hat-trick was not the first for him in India colours as he has done it before during the U19 World Cup against Scotland.

Kuldeep became the third Indian bowler to achieve the rare feat at the senior level in ODIs and joined the elite club of legends Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma. Interestingly, Kapil had taken the hat-trick at the very ground 26 years ago against Sri Lanka in 1991. Chetan Sharma had claimed his in 1987 and was the first ever bowler from India to that in the limited overs format.

U19 heroics

The 22-year-old scalped the trio of Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins off consecutive deliveries during the second ODI against Australia which derailed their innings completely. Though, this was not the first time for him as he had experienced the feeling three years ago during the U19 Cricket World Cup in 2014. The team, Scotland was less fancied but his achievement surely can’t be ignored. He had also become the first Indian bowler at the U19 level to pick a hat-trick.

Soon after his heroics in the match against Australia on Friday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) posted a video of Kuldeep’s hat-trick against Scotland on Twitter. The fans were left awestruck after watching his bowling and praised him for the achievement. He had picked the wickets of Nick Farrar, Kyle Stirling and Alex Baum on three successive balls spread out over two overs.

The chinaman bowler is proving to be mystery for renowned international batsmen and is appearing to be a good prospect for the Men in Blue ahead of the World Cup in 2019.

Watch the video here:

He’s just taken his first ODI hat-trick in Kolkata, but it’s not the first one @imkuldeep18 has celebrated in an India shirt… pic.twitter.com/26ioVfdxCQ

— ICC (@ICC) September 21, 2017