Bhubaneswar: He was the first Indian bowler to register a hat-trick in the World Cup cricket tournament. Thirty two years have elapsed, but Chetan Sharma still vividly remembers the wickets that he took – Ken Rutherford, Ian Smit and Ewan Chatfield – during the India-New Zealand game at Nagpur in 1987. It was the same game where Sunil Gavaskar got his only ODI century.
However, Sharma who was present in a TV show during the tense moments of the India-Afghanistan World Cup game Saturday said Sunday that he had a gut feeling about Mohammed Shami’s hat-trick. “He was bowling to the No.11 batsman and Shami is good at bowling yorkers, so I had a feeling that the hat-trick is coming,” said Sharma. “No doubt he is a special bowler,” added the former India pacer.
Sharma said that in the last one year, Shami has worked hard on his bowling and improved manifold. “Most importantly his accuracy has improved and he has added a couple of yards to his pace. Another important factor is that Shami bowls with a ‘straight seam’ position which helps him control his swing,” Sharma pointed out.
Sharma, however, is disappointed that Shami was not presented with the man of the match award which instead went to Jasprit Bumrah. “The adjudicators could have opted for a joint man of the match award. Shami’s feat is really laudable… after all rarely do you see a hat-trick in cricket. It doesn’t happen as frequently as batsmen score hundreds,” opined Sharma.
Reminiscing about his hat-trick, Sharma said that when he dismissed Rutherford in the New Zealand game, the thought of registering a hat-trick was never on his mind. “The first was relief, ‘finally I have got a wicket’ and it was a great feeling,” informed Sharma. The next ball when I bowled Smith, I still did not think of a hat-trick. As I was about to bowl the next delivery Kapil Dev (the skipper then) came and told me ‘just bowl on the stumps’. The rest is all history,” added Sharma.
The former India pacer, however, was quick to point out that the importance of Shami’s hat-trick far outweighed his achievement. “The wickets Shami took came at a crucial time. Mohammad Nabi was batting well and could have taken the match away from India. So in this context, the wickets were very crucial. I got mine when India were bowling first,” informed Sharma.
As of now, Sharma has just one line to say to Shami. “Welcome to the World Cup hat-trick club.”
World Cup hat-trick club
Chetan Sharma New Zealand Nagpur 1987
Saqlain Mushtaq Zimbabwe London 1999
Chaminda Vaas Bangladesh Peitermaritzburg 2003
Brett Lee Kenya Durban 2003
Lasith Malinga South Africa Province 2007
Kemar Roach The Netherlands New Delhi 2011
Lasith Malinga Kenya Colombo 2011
Steven Finn Australia Melbourne 2015
JP Duminy Sri Lanka Sydney 2015
Mohammed Shami Afghanistan Southampton 2019
PNN