This edition of the Number Nut is inspired by one of our avid readers, B. K. Harinath from Mysore, Karnataka. If you have an idea that you think should be featured in this column, do write in to numbernut@thehindu.co.in or bishen.numbernut@gmail.com.
On April 14, 2017, the Indian Premier League (IPL) witnessed a quirky first. Samuel Badree (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Andrew Tye (Gujarat Lions) picked up hat-tricks, making it the first instance of two bowlers taking IPL hat-tricks on the same day. Badree took his hat-trick against Mumbai Indians, dismissing Parthiv Patel, Mitchell McClenaghan and Rohit Sharma, while Tye took the wickets of Ankit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Shardul Thakur against Rising Pune Supergiant.
There was a close miss in 2013 when Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) took a hat-trick on April 16, 2013 against Kings XI Punjab, a day before Amit Mishra (Deccan Chargers) did the same against Pune Warriors India on April 17, 2013. This makes it a good time to take a look at some of the records around IPL hat-tricks.
List of IPL Hat-Tricks
• Bowler with most hat-tricks: Three — Amit Mishra, for three different teams — Delhi Daredevils, Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Yuvraj Singh has taken two hat-tricks.
• Most hat-tricks for a team: Three each for Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.
• Most hat-tricks against a team: Three, against Kings XI Punjab.
• Most hat-tricks at a venue: Two each in Bengaluru, Rajkot and Ahmedabad.
Of the eight teams that played the initial edition of the IPL, Mumbai Indians is the only team without a single bowler taking a hat-trick for the side. Even relatively newer franchises like Gujarat Lions and Sunrisers Hyderabad have a hat-trick each.
- All the top wicket takers at this year’s IPL seem to be foreign players. Was this the case in the last edition as well?
- — Dhananjai Hari, Hyderabad, Telangana
- You are right Dhananjai. Though an Indian — Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 10 wickets — currently tops the bowlers’ list of the 2017 IPL, foreigners take up the next seven spots on the list, led by Imran Tahir (8), Andrew Tye (7), Chris Morris (7), Rashid Khan (7) and Mitchell McClenaghan (7). This was not the case in last year’s edition, when nine of the top 15 wicket-takers were Indians, including three of the top four. Bhuvneshwar Kumar led the list in 2016 as well with 23 wickets, followed by Yuzvendra Chahal (21), Shane Watson (20) and Dhawal Kulkarni (18).
- Karun Nair seems to have done absolutely nothing since his triple century against England. Could you please give me his statistics since then?
- — Pushpa Kumar, New Delhi
- Since Karun Nair’s historic 303 in the fifth Test of the India-England series in Chennai, he has played the Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy, Inter-State T20 tournament, the India-Australia Test series and now the IPL. Karun had scores of 14 and 12 in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final, and scores of 28 and 7 in the Irani Trophy match, followed by scores of 14, 12 and 4 in the Inter-State T20 tournament and scores of 26, 0, 23 and 5 in the Tests against Australia. His two innings in the ongoing IPL have resulted in scores of 4 and 0. He has essentially scored 149 runs from 13 innings since his triple century (across formats and series), at an average of 11.46.
- I read that Sanju Samson became the second youngest player to score a century in the IPL. Who was the youngest?
- — Wiseroy Damodaran, Thodupuzha, Kerala
- When Sanju Samson scored his swashbuckling 102 against Rising Pune Supergiant, he was 22 years and 151 days old, making him the second youngest player to score a century in the IPL. The youngest player to do so was Manish Pandey, when he scored 114 for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Deccan Chargers in 2009, at the age of 19 years and 253 days.
- IPL matches up to April 16, 2017
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