The seventh ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is slated to occur in Oman and the United Arab Emirates from October 17th to November 14th, 2021. As the game evolved over the years, the limelight is not only on the crickets, but the bowlers also have an advantage in studying the pitch and correcting things. Time and again, cricket tournaments have proved that it’s not enough to choose the top batsmen, but a cricket team needs top bowlers and all-rounders too.
In the world of bowling, there are few achievements as satisfying and mind-boggling as a hat-trick. One of the most challenging feats for a bowler is nailing that perfect trifecta. To pull off a hat-trick, a bowler must have a high level of consistency and accuracy. Since the seventh ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup got postponed by a year due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, many cricket lovers are eagerly waiting for the tournament to start. However, the tournament is being held in the UAE, which means many people will miss out on watching live matches from the stadium.
There’s no need to feel disheartened because you can virtually become a part of the tournament via the fantasy cricket game. The game lets you create your virtual cricket team for the World Cup consisting of real players. One of the first things to learn how to play fantasy cricket is knowing how to create a balanced team. What’s more, you can create multiple teams with a combination of players to improve your chances of getting a good score.
While you download and register for the fantasy cricket game and prepare to take part in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, let’s take you on a journey of some of the most memorable hat-tricks in the tournament’s history. These hat-tricks are permanent residences in the annals of cricket lore.
Chetan Sharma (India)
Chetan Sharma was the first-ever bowler to get a hat-trick in a cricket world cup. Due to a thumb injury, Chetan was about to be dropped from the 1987 World Cup squad. Luckily, captain Kapil Dev appealed to the BCCI on his behalf to pick him up for the squad. Chetan justified his selection in a match against New Zealand.
Chetan’s first wicket was Ken Rutherford, and he was bowled out with an astonishing inswinging delivery. He followed that with straight and faster deliveries and took out Ewen Chatfield and Ian Smith.
This hat-trick brought Chetan a lot of fame, and it was the highlight of his career. Incidentally, this was also the first hat-trick by an Indian bowler in International cricket.
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan)
Hat-tricks are rare, and therefore, cricket lovers had to wait twelve years and three more editions of the tournament to witness another nifty hat-trick. The hat-trick witnessed in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was pulled off by Pakistani off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq against Zimbabwe at the Oval Ground. Mushtaq is one of the most feared bowlers in the world, and he pulled off the wicket of tail-ender Henry Olonga and went on to remove Adam Huckle, and at last, he eliminated Pommie Mbangwa in LBW. In ICC Men WC, Mushtaq became the second cricketer to get three in three balls.
Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka)
Chaminda Vaas is one of the most underrated bowlers in the history of cricket. The Sri Lankan bowler was known for his swing bowling, and in the 2003 World Cup, when Sri Lanka was playing against Bangladesh, he picked up a wicket with his first ball. With a beautiful inswinging delivery, he picked up the wicket of Hannan Sarkar, and his next wicket was Mohammad Ashraful, a Bangladeshi legend. His third wicket was Ehsanui Haque. Thanks to his efforts, the Bangladeshi team was all-out for 124 runs.
Brett Lee (Australia)
With his lethal pace bowling, Brett Lee struck fear in the hearts of batters. He was the key bowler of the Australian cricket team when they were dominating the cricketing world.
The 2003 World Cup was special for the entire Australian team because they were the first team to win the tournament without losing a single game. Brett Lee was part of the squad, and he picked his first hat-trick against Kenya during the World Cup. KO Otieno was his victim, which was followed by Brijal Patel and David Obuya. Brett Lee’s bowling was so fierce that Otieno suffered a broken elbow.
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
Lasith Malinga is known as one of the fastest bowlers in the world of cricket. During his early days, he was a menace with the ball. In the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, Malinga scored his first hat-trick. While South Africa was trying to chase a total of 210 runs, Malinga smoothly changed the course of the match. Shaun Pollock was his first wicket, followed by Andrew Hall and Jacques Kallis.
Malinga did not stop there, and he went on to pick up the wicket of Makhaya Ntini and became the first player to take four wickets in four spells.
JP Duminy (South Africa)
When it comes to World Cups, the South African cricket team has been extremely successful. In the 2015 World Cup in Australia, the South African team took on a very good Sri Lankan team in the quarter-finals. In this match, South Africa was on a roll, and they even managed to pick up two early wickets and put a lot of pressure on the Sri Lankan team. But that was only the beginning. When JP Duminy was introduced in the attack, the pressure reached the boiling point for the Sri Lankan team. Angelo Matthews was Duminy’s first wicket, and then he took two more wickets in a row. Duminy became the first South African to pick up a hat-trick.
So, bowlers are as important as batsmen when forming your fantasy cricket team because they can single-handedly change the course of the match.
