Is Deepak Chahar The First Indian to Take a Hat-trick in T20Is?

Deepak Chahar put up historic figures (6/7) against Bangladesh in a 30-run victory in the third T20I at Nagpur.

Deepak Chahar of India celebrates the wicket of Mohammad Mithun of Bangladesh during the 3rd T20 International match between India and Bangladesh held at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur on 10 November 2019.

(Photo: BCCI)

Deepak Chahar may have put up the single greatest bowling numbers in T20I history. Across his 20 deliveries, Chahar managed to take 6 wickets and only give 7 runs. Bowling figures like this are unmatched and this also allowed Chahar to get his maiden five-wicket haul in the sport.

Chahar picked up Man of the Match as well as Man of the Series for his part in India’s 2-1 victory over Bangladesh.

During the match, Chahar took three successive wickets in three balls, claiming a hat-trick for himself. The BCCI was quick to congratulate him and claim that this was the first time an Indian bowler achieved this. But is that true?

With his hat-trick in the third T20I between India and Bangladesh, Chahar did set a record. He became the first Indian man to achieve a hat-trick in the shortest format of the game. However, the first Indian to do this was Ekta Bisht, a spinner for the Indian Women’s Team.

Ekta Bisht is the first woman’s cricketer from Uttarakhand to represent the Indian Women’s team. Bisht achieved this in 2012 during a T20I match against the Sri Lankan Women’s Team. Bisht made the Lankan lower-order collapse with a hat-trick for a nine wicket victory in the play-off match of the 2012's ICC World Women Twenty20.

Ekta Bisht (middle) celebrates with her teammates after taking Pakistan’s Diana Baig’s wicket during the ICC Women’s World Cup. 

While the BCCI conveniently forgot the achievement by Bisht in 2012, Twitter was quick to remind them of Bisht’s feat.

Ekta Bisht isn’t in the national team anymore, but the 33-year old has achieved a lot during her stint with the women’s team.

She is the fifth Indian woman to cross the 100 wicket mark with 129 international wickets and India’s fifth highest wicket-taker in ODIs & third highest in T20Is.

Bisht was awarded the Khel Ratna in 2017 by the Uttarakhand government. She is the only woman to be named in both the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year and the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year.