A hat-trick is a massive achievement in this era of the game, which has become batsmen friendly. Apart from being adept with his skills, a bowler must also have play psychologically on the mind of the batsmen if he needs to execute a hat-trick. So far, in the history of IPL, there have been 20 hat-tricks. In this article, we take a look at the list of three RCB players who have taken a hat-trick in IPL.
1) Praveen Kumar – IPL 2010
Opposition: Rajasthan Royals || Wickets: Damien Martyn, S Narwal and P Dogra || Venue: Bengaluru
Praveen Kumar is the seventh cricketer in the history of IPL and the first-ever RCB bowler to pick a hat-trick. He did that against Rajasthan Royals in Match No.10 of IPL 2010. A serial wicket-taker for RCB then, Praveen’s hat-trick helped his team restrict to RR for 92 runs before the batsmen chased it down comfortably.
While Australian cricketer Damien Martyn and Paras Dogra were bowled by Praveen, Sumit Narwal was caught by Manish Pandey. Hence, PK completed his first hat-trick in the tournament.
2) Samuel Badree – IPL 2017
Opposition: Mumbai Indians || Wickets: Parthiv Patel, Mitchell McClenaghan and Rohit Sharma || Venue: Bengaluru
Samuel Badree was one of the world’s best T20I bowlers when he was playing for RCB. Against Mumbai Indians in 2017, he collected a hat-trick and one of the wickets included the massive one of Rohit Sharma. Hence, in the chase of 143, Mumbai was down to 7 for 4 due to Badree’s achievement.
Yet, this was not enough for RCB to win the game. Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya put on a stunning partnership to help the men from Mumbai cross the line.
3) Harshal Patel – IPL 2021
Opposition: Mumbai Indians || Wickets: Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Rahul Chahar || Venue: Dubai
Harshal Patel is the latest entrant to this list of RCB players who have taken a hat-trick in IPL. In the process, he also joined a rare list of cricketers who have taken a five-wicket haul and a hat-trick in the same edition. Interestingly, Harshal achieved both these records against five-time champions Mumbai Indians.
Talking about the hat-trick, it was pure brilliance by Harshal, which led to all three wickets. Apart from extending the lead in the overall wickets column, Harshal’s three wickets in that over also ensured that RCB could win the game. While Hardik was caught by Kohli, Pollard was bowled and Rahul Chahar was out LBW.
