In the game of cricket, hat-tricks are extremely rare. Amongst the colossal list of bowlers, there have been very few who have accomplished this rare feat. Those who aren’t aware, when a bowler dismisses three batsmen off three consecutive balls, then such effort is known as a hat-trick.
In the history of One-Day International (ODI) format, only 49 times this achievement has been unlocked by bowlers. Jalal-ud-Din, a fast-medium pacer from Pakistan was the first bowler to claim a hat-trick in this format. He achieved the feat in September 1982 against Australia.
Out of 49 occasions, there are only four bowlers who have grabbed a hat-trick in their debut ODI game. More importantly, all four instances happened in the last six years.
Let’s have a look at those four bowlers who earned a hat-trick on their debut game in ODIs:
1.) Taijul Islam – Bangladesh (2014)
One of the most promising off-spinner in Bangladesh cricket, Taijul Islam made his ODI debut for national team in 2014 against Zimbabwe at home. Taijul played the fifth ODI of the series and claimed the hat-trick in two overs.
In the last ball of his sixth over, Taijul shattered the defence of Tinashe Panyangara to claim his first wicket. Then, in the first delivery of his next over, the left-arm spinner bowled a quicker delivery which caught John Nyumbu plumb in front.
Then Taijul’s next victim was Tendai Chatara who was clean bowled after he completely missed the ball while attempting to slog it out of the ground. On that day, Taijul became the first bowler to take an ODI hat-trick on debut.
2.) Kagiso Rabada – South Africa (2015)
The second bowler who claimed a hat-trick on his debut ODI game was none other than the speedster from South Africa, Kagiso Rabada. The right-armer debuted against Bangladesh in 2015 at Dhaka.
Kagiso, who was 20-year-old then, bowled his second over and accomplished the rare feat. He began by castling the off-stump of Tamim Iqbal on the fourth ball of his over. Then came Liton Das who played a flick straight to Farhaan Behardien positioned at mid-wicket and lost his wicket.
The final delivery of Kagiso’s over was faced by Mahmudullah who was trapped in front as he was beaten by the sheer pace of the young Proteas paceman. Kagiso went on to take 6/16 in that game.
3.) Wanindu Hasaranga – Sri Lanka (2017)
In 2017, Wanindu Hasaranga from Sri Lanka became the third bowler in ODI history to attain the remarkable feat. The leg-spinner debuted against Zimbabwe in Galle. During the third over of his spell, Hasaranga claimed a three on three stratagem.
Hasaranga first sent Malcolm Waller back to the pavilion on the second delivery of his over. The batsman tried to whack a ball outside off stump, but it carried an inside edge and went into the stumps.
The next two balls were nothing but beauty. The leggie bowled two outstanding googlies – the first struck at Donald Tiripano’s pads in front of the stumps and second came back in sharply and thrashed onto the stumps of Tendai Chatara.
4.) Shehan Madushanka – Sri Lanka (2018)
Another Sri Lankan on this buzzworthy list is fast bowler Shehan Madushanka. The right-armer achieved the rare feat in 2018 against Bangladesh during a tri-series final. Just like Taijul Islam, Shehan also claimed a hat-trick in two overs.
During his sixth over, the Wennappuwa-born got Mashrafe Mortaza and Rubel Hossain off the last two deliveries. Mortaza was caught at deep mid-wicket when he tried to go downtown against a full toss ball, whereas Rubel faced a toe-crushing yorker which devastated his stumps.
Then, in his next over, Shehan sent Mahmudullah back to the hut when he tried to whack the debutant over extra cover but caught by Upul Tharanga and claimed a memorable hat-trick.
