Published: Jan 03, 2016, 07:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 02, 2016, 11:53 PM (IST)
Piyush Chawla and Ishwar Pandey were the star performers in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015-16 as they picked up hat-tricks that gave Uttar Pradesh and Madhya pradesh victories on the first day. Chawla finished with 4 for 28 against Maharashtra, while Pandey ended up with figures of 4 for 20 against Andhra. This is the third such instance in the tournamentn where two bowlers have picked up a hat-trick in the same day. Sumit Narwal of Delhi and Manpreet Gony of Punjab achieved this feat on the same day in 2009. Ishwar Chaudhary and Padmanabhan Prashanth of Kerala too picked up hat-tricks on the same day in 2011. Full updates: Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015-16, Bengal vs Hyderabad, Gujarat vs Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan vs Punjab, Andhra vs Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai vs Odisha, Maharashtra vs Uttar Pradesh
Coming back to the current matches, Chawla’s feat helped Uttar Pradesh restrict Maharashtra out for 109 in a match that was reduced to 12 overs per side. Kedar Jadhav scored an unbeaten fifty for Maharashtra, but Uttar Pradesh won the match by seven wickets with four balls to spare. Pandey’s hat-trick however managed to reduce Andhra to 95 for 9 in 20 overs, which Madhya Pradesh chased down with five wickets and 10 balls remaining. It was a match where the bowlers dominated proceedings, but Andhra did not post a challenging total, where they could have gotten Madhya Pradesh in any sort of trouble. READ: Irfan Pathan takes fifer, Ishwar Pandey gets a hat-trick in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015-16
| Bowler | Team | Against | Venue | Date |
| Sumit Narwal | Delhi | Haryana | Delhi | 24-10-2009 |
| Manpreet Gony | Punjab | Services | Delhi | 24-10-2009 |
| Ishwar Chaudhary | Gujarat | Mumbai | Rajkot | 21-10-2011 |
| Padmanabhan Prasanth | Kerala | Goa | Chennai | 21-10-2011 |
| Arup Das | Assam | Orissa | Agartala | 8-3-2013 |
| Chama Milind | Hyderabad | Tamil Nadu | Shimoga | 22-3-2013 |
| Rituraj Singh | Rajasthan | Madhya Pradesh | Nagpur | 22-3-2013 |
| Rahul Sharma | Punjab | Uttar Pradesh | Indore | 30-3-2013 |
| Prasanth Kumar | Andhra | Karnataka | Kochi | 25-3-2015 |
| Ashish Reddy | Hyderabad | Goa | Kochi | 29-3-2015 |
| Ishwar Pandey | Madhya Pradesh | Andhra | Vadodara | 2-1-2016 |
| Piyush Chawla | Uttar Pradesh | Maharashtra | Cuttack | 2-1-2016 |
With the ICC World T20 2016 just around the corner, this tournament will be a good yardstick through which players can be picked for the mega event. Irfan Pathan earlier picked up his maiden fifer in T20s and if he manages to bowl with same consistency in the other matches, he may be in contention for the World Cup as well.
