Indian opener Rohit Sharma is known for smashing huge sixes and hitting big daddy hundreds. He is one of the most destructive batsmen of modern-day cricket. The Mumbaikar is often praised for his exceptional timing and brilliant hand-eye coordination.
Apart from his batting abilities, ‘Hitman’ is also famous for his superior captaincy, especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Under his leadership, Mumbai Indians (MI) have won as many as five IPL titles – most by any franchise in IPL history.
But at the beginning of IPL, Rohit wasn’t a part of MI as he represented Deccan Chargers (DC) – now a defunct franchise – in 2008, 2009, and 2010. During the second season of the cash-rich league, Rohit etched his name in record books with his stunning bowling performance.
It was on this day, 12 years ago, Rohit claimed his first-ever hat-trick in IPL. Interestingly, he picked up a hat-trick against MI at Centurion.
The Chargers had decided to bat first in the match and posted a total of 145/6 in their allotted 20 overs. While defending the total, the Adam Gilchrist-led side was in a difficult situation as Mumbai looked comfortable at 103/4 in the 16th over. However, then Gilchrist gave the ball to Rohit, who soon changed the course of the match.
Rohit dismissed Abhishek Nayar (1), followed by Harbhajan Singh (0) on the last two balls of the 16th over. The off-spinner cleaned up Nayar round his legs, and on the next delivery, Bhajji under-edged a sweep shot on to his stumps.
No wonder the captain again gave the ball to Rohit to deliver the 18th over as well. The right-armer bowled around the legs to JP Duminy (52), who ended up giving the catch to Gilchrist, and thus Rohit registered his first and only hat-trick in the T20 format.
Watch the video here:
https://twitter.com/HITMAN_FANS_KAR/status/1390174065889931264
