Ranji Trophy 2018-19: Roosh Kalaria sixth bowler to take a hat-trick this season

Gujarat allrounder Roosh Kalaria became the sixth bowler in the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 season to claim a hat-trick when he cleaned up Kerala’s Sijumon Joseph, Basil Thampi and MD Nidheesh off consecutive deliveries in Gujarat’s quarter-final match at Krishnagiri Stadium, Wayanad on Wednesday. (ALSO READ: Hat-trick for Roosh Kalaraia as Kerala set Gujarat a target of 195 runs)

He joins the likes of Mohammad Mudhasir of Jammu and Kashmir, M Mohammad for Tamil Nadu, Deepak Dhapola of Uttarakhand, Tahmeed Rahman of Nagaland and Ashutosh Aman of Bihar to achieve the feat this year. (ALSO READ: Vinay Kumar’s unbeaten 83 helps Karnataka take slender lead)

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While the other five claimed hat-tricks in the league stages of the tournament, Kalaria did it in the knockouts. Rajneesh Gurbani of Vidarbha had claimed three wickets in three balls last season in the final of the Ranji Trophy 2017-18 against Delhi. (ALSO READ: Centuries by Wasim Jaffer, Sanjay Ramaswamy put Vidarbha in command versus Uttarakhand)

Hat-tricks this season:

Kalaria’s hat-trick is the 82 overall in Ranji Trophy history and he becomes the second Gujarat bowler after Rakesh Dhruve to claim a hat-trick. Dhruve, a left-arm spinner, had took a hat-trick against Vidarbha during Ranji Trophy 2013-14 season.

Hat-tricks for Gujarat:

With six bowlers taking a hat-trick this season, the 2018-19 season has seen the most hat-tricks eclipsing the tally of five bowlers taking hat-tricks in the 1963-64 season.

It was during that season that Services’ right-arm medium pacer Joginder Rao claimed three hat-tricks in a single season – two of them in the same match and that too in the one innings against Northern Punjab. In five matches that season, Rao claimed 21 wickets at 9.66, but never played again.

Rao’s tally of three hat-tricks is the most for a player in Ranji Trophy, followed by two each by Karnataka’s Anil Kumble (1991-92 and 1997-98) and Vinay Kumar (2007-08 and 2017-18).

Most hat-tricks in Ranji Trophy: 

Karnataka is the team with most hat-tricks, ten, followed by Bengal with 6.

Hat-tricks for Karnataka: