IPL 2022: Yuzvendra Chahal Picks Hat-trick vs KKR; Twitter Is Delighted
Yuzvendra Chahal finished with his first five-wicket haul in the IPL.
Yuzvendra Chahal poses for the cameras after getting his hat-trick.
Image: BCCI
Yuzvendra Chahal stole the show at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday evening as he picked a hat-trick and finished with a five-wicket haul against KKR. It was also his first five-wicket haul in the IPL.
The Royals won by 7 runs and moved to 2nd on the points table.
Yuzvendra Chahal turned the match on its head by claiming the 21st hat-trick of Indian Premier League (IPL) as he dismissed Shreyas Iyer, trapped lbw trying to whip a delivery pitching on the middle.
On the next delivery of the 17th over, Chahal had Shivam Mavi caught by Riyan Parag and completed his hat-trick when Pat Cummins edged back to Sanju Samson -- going off for a lengthy celebration.
Chahal’s is the 21st hat-trick in the IPL. While veteran spinner Amit Mishra has achieved the feat thrice, this was a first for Chahal.
That completed a five-wicket haul for Chahal as he had claimed the wickets of Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer earlier -- the pencil-thin spinner ending with 5/40 off his four overs.
"I had to take wickets in this match to change the result. I worked on my bowling. I spoke to the coaches and the skipper," said Chahal at the post-match ceremony on Monday.
Asked what was going in his mind as he shaped up to bowl the hat-trick delivery, Chahal said he thought of bowling a googly but changed his mind at the last moment.
"I was thinking of a googly but then I didn't want to take a chance. Would have been a happy with a dot ball as well on my hat-trick ball," said Chahal.
In the six matches so far this season, Chahal has bagged 17 wickets and is the Purple Cap holder with T Natarajan on 12 wickets at second.
Chahal finished with the Player of the Match award.
After Pravin Tambe in 2014, This is only the second time that a Rajasthan Royals bowler has bagged 3 wickets off consecutive balls against KKR. And Chahal is the fourth Rajasthan bowler to get a hat-trick in the IPL after Tambe, Shane Watson (2014 vs SRH) and Shreyas Gopal (2019 vs RCB).
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)