Who is Karthik Meiyappan? Here's all you need to know about UAE's Hat-trick hero who rattled Sri Lanka

UAE's young prodigious leg spinner Karthik Meiyappan registered his name into the record books after claiming a memorable hat-trick against Asian champions Sri Lanka on Tuesday, 18th of October. The 22-year-old became the first bowler to grab a hat-trick at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

His incredible feat makes him only the second Asian and fifth overall to take a hattrick in a T20 World Cup, joining the likes of  Brett Lee (2007), Curtis Campher (2021), Wanindu Hasaranga (2021), and Kagiso Rabada (2021) in an elite list of players. He also became the first player from an ICC associate nation to take a hat-trick against a full member.

Sri Lanka, who were shocked by Namibia in their opening fixture, were in the ascendency before Meiyappan came on to bowl the 15th over of the match in Geelong. The fourth delivery of the over saw Bhanuka Rajapaksa hole out at deep cover, which was followed by Charith Asalanka knicking one through to the keeper on the very next delivery.

But the icing on the cake came in the form of the dismissal of Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka, who was beaten by a peach to see his off stump disturbed. Meiyappan returned with fabulous figures of 3/19 after dismissing three renowned power-hitters in an over.

Meiyappan was born in Chennai

Born in Chennai, Meiyappan moved around Abu Dhabi and Dubai before his family eventually settled in Dubai in 2012. That is when cricket opened its door for the youngster in UAE. He attended the Winchester School in Dubai where he met current UAE teammate Aryan Lakra.

He was part of the UAE U-19 team that took part in the Asia Cup hosted by Bangladesh in 2018, before leading the U-19 side at the 2019 ACC U-19 Asian Cup in Sri Lanka. He made his senior debut in 2019 against the USA in Sharjah and since making his debut has scalped ten wickets in ODIs and 21 wickets in the shortest format of the game for UAE.

But he rose to fame in 2020 when the IPL was moved to UAE due to the Covid-19 crisis in India. The youngster was roped in by the Royal Challengers Bangalore camp along with his skipper Ahmed Raza to train with the franchise. He got the opportunity to rub shoulders with the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Yuzvendra Chahal during his stint with the RCB.