CHENNAI: Chetan Sharma, the first cricketer to register a hat-trick in the World Cup, was in a TV studio when Mohammed Shami ended India’s 32-year-old drought in the premier event handing Virat Kohli and Co a thrilling win over Afghanistan on Saturday. Despite Sharma’s feat of being the first, no Indian had managed to achieve it since even as bowlers from other countries kept etching their names in the history books by taking the total number of hat-tricks to nine before Saturday. One of the first things that he did was to send his congratulations to Shami, by texting India coach Ravi Shastri.
“I jumped two feet in the studio, 32 years is a long wait. I always used to wonder why Indian bowlers were not claiming a hat-trick in the World Cup. Finally, my wait is over,” an elated Sharma told this newspaper. The former Indian pacer had castled Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Ewen Chatfield in the 42nd over of New Zealand’s innings in the 1987 World Cup in Nagpur to create history. By doing so, he also became the first Indian to claim three wickets in as many balls.
“Every cricketer dreams of playing for India. A bowler always dreams of a five-wicket haul and a 10-wicket haul but however hardly dreams of completing a hat-trick. It happens for them and I’m happy it happened for Shami on the cricket’s biggest stage,” the former all-rounder said.
He though believes it’s a difficult feat to achieve. “You’ve to hit the stumps, which is not an easy task even in the absence of a batsman. We’ve seen that in the famous bowl-out win for India against Pakistan in the inaugural 2007 World T20 when the bowlers from opposite side failed to hit the stumps even once.” Shami credited MS Dhoni for his recent success saying the latter inspired him to bowl the delivery that earned him a place in the World Cup history and Sharma agreed with him completely. “Someone has to guide you, instil faith in you and calm your nerves. In my case, then-captain Kapil Dev asked me to bowl a straight one and rest is history.”