On this day in 2006: Irfan Pathan took Hat-trick against Pakistan

If you perform against Pakistan and better yet on Australian soil, makes you a prominent part of Indian folklore. Let arm fast bowler Irfan Pathan burst onto the scene following his exploits on the pacey wickets of Australia. Emerging as a tearaway bowler who could swing the ball at 140 Kmph, Pathan emerged as a decent batsman.

Making his debut in India’s historic win over Australia in Adelaide, Pathan impressed with the ball, picking up 2 wickets on his Test debut. Following that, Irfan Pathan became a regular in the side captained by the charismatic Rahul Dravid. On the back of impressive performances in the previous two Tests, Pathan was selected for the third Test as well. While many would have seen the inclusion of the left arm pacer as a surprise and criticized Dravid, Pathan stunned one and all with his performance in the third Test. No one, not even in their wildest dreams expected what Pathan was to accomplish.

Expecting the ball to seam, skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and chose to field. Expecting Irfan Pathan to get some purchase off the Karachi wicket, Dravid handed the new ball to Pathan. As Pathan ran in to bowl the first ball of the match, the crescendo and the decibels of cheering around the Gaddafi Stadium increased to new heights.

Facing Salman Butt, Pathan’s vicious swinging prowess ensured that the ball moved away from the body of Salman Butt. Not anticipating the ball to swing and bounce as much as it did, the ball clipped the outside edge of Butt’s blade eventually finding its way to skipper Rahul Dravid positioned at first slip. The safe hands of Rahul Dravid ensured that Butt found his way back the Gaddafi pavilion.

The following delivery saw Younis Khan make his way out to the middle. This time, Pathan’s in-swinging strength came to the fore. Pitching the ball a tad higher than the previous ball, the late movement caught Younis Khan off guard eventually trapping him on the pads. Umpire Simon Taufel had absolutely no doubt in his mind as he raised his right index finger. With the first two deliveries yielding wickets, Pathan stood on the brink of what would be a unique feat of sorts- a test match hat-trick.

The Gaddafi Stadium and almost a billion cricket crazy Indians held their breath as Mohammed Yousuf made his way to the middle. Charging in with ferocious intensity, Pathan achieved the unthinkable. Hitting the deck harder than usual, Pathan breached the defenses of the clueless Yousuf. Incidentally, all deliveries had been pitched in and around the same line and length.

In spite of his hat-trick, the Indians went on to lose the third test by 341 runs and the 3 match test series 1-0.

Following his hat trick, Pathan became only India’s second bowler to pick up a Test hat-trick following Harbhajan Singh’s hat-trick against Australia in Kolkata in 2001. Irfan Pathan remains to be the only bowler to pick up three wickets in the first over of a Test match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrPfYtB0sZE