Ranji Trophy: Jaydev Unadkat becomes FIRST bowler to pick hat-trick in first over vs Delhi

Saurashtra captain and Team India pacer Jaydev Unadkat continued his dream run, becoming the first-ever bowler to claim a hat-trick in the first over of a Ranji Trophy match. Unadkat bowling against Delhi in a Ranji Trophy game in Rajkot on Tuesday (January 3), dismissed opener Dhruv Shorey for a duck off the third ball of the opening over to open the flood gates.

No. 3 Delhi batter Vaibhav Rawal was then caught by Hardik Desai off the first ball and Delhi skipper Yash Dhull was dismissed for a first-ball duck as well as Unadkat completed a historic hat-trick. Irfan Pathan from India was the first bowler to pick up a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match but Unadkat is the first to achieve this feat in a Ranji Trophy game.

Irfan Pathan - First bowler to take a hat-trick in first over in Test cricket.

Jaydev Unadkat - First bowler to take a hat-trick in first over in Ranji Trophy. — Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 3, 2023

The left-arm pacer from Saurashtra wasn’t done yet as he returned in his second over to dismiss Jonty Sidhu for 4 and Delhi Capitals all-rounder Lalit Yadav for duck to complete his five-wicket haul in just his second over in the game.

In between, Chirag Jani dismissed Lucknow Super Giants batter Ayush Badoni for a duck as well as Delhi were reduced to 5 for 6 on the first day. Unadkat picked up his sixth wicket of the innings in his third over, dismissing Delhi wicketkeeper Lakshay for 1 as Delhi were reduced to 10 for 7 in the first five overs.

The Saurashtra captain returned to polish off the Delhi tail, finishing off with figures of 8 for 39 in 12. For Delhi, Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hrithik Shokeen was the top-scorer with 68 off 90 balls as they were bundled out for 133 in 35 overs on Day 1.

Unadkat had earlier made a comeback in Test cricket after a gap of 12 years, when he turned out for Team India in the second Test against Bangladesh last month. He was the leading wicket-taker for Saurashtra during their run to the Vijay Hazare Trophy title, picking up 19 wickets in 10 matches at an economy of 3.33.

Earlier, Unadkat was bought at his base price of Rs 50 lakh by KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants at the IPL 2023 mini auction last month.