When Mohammad Shami took the final wicket of Mujeeb Ur Rahman against Afghanistan to complete his hat-trick, Chetan Sharma’s unique distinction of being the only Indian to take a World Cup hat-trick no longer held.
Sharma had taken his hat-trick against New Zealand in the 1987 World Cup, and in a video tweeted by the official BCCI account, he compares his hat-trick to Shami’s, while lauding the efforts of the Indian bowling attack in the ongoing World Cup.
“When Mohammad Shami was running in to bowl the hat-trick ball, my heart was telling me it’s going to be a hat-trick. I must have jumped at least four feet from where I was sitting after seeing that ball going at 145kmph crash into the leg-stump,” Sharma said in the video.
“Both balls hit leg-stump for the hat-trick. And even I was a quick right-arm bowler, like Shami.
WATCH: Chetan Sharma did it in 1987 & @MdShami11 has done it in 2019. Here's Chetan Sharma talking about both hat-tricks 😎👌🗣️ #TeamIndia #CWC19 Watch the video here 👉▶️▶️ https://t.co/YniT8f4qV3 pic.twitter.com/pBNm5DuCGF
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 24, 2019
“Before the hat-trick ball, MS Dhoni said something to Shami, and I knew he was talking to him about the hat-trick. ‘Bowl the ball straight, and wicket to wicket.’ In 1987 as well, Kapil (my captain) had told me the same thing. Keep the ball wicket to wicket, because the batsman that is walking out to face the hat-trick ball is already nervous. He will only try and prevent the hat-trick, so you have a big chance of succeeding.
“The Indian bowlers are doing very well, and I hope they keep bowling with the same pace and same attitude to win the World Cup and bring it home.”
The match against Afghanistan was Shami’s first in the World Cup, and with Bhuvneshwar Kumar injured, Shami is expected to play an important role as he tournament progresses past the group stages.