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Uttar Pradesh captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar added another feather to his legendary cap by claiming a T20 hat-trick and defeating Jharkhand in an exciting Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy group-stage encounter at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, on Thursday. In a must-win game, the seasoned bowler, who was been acquired by Royal Challengers Bangalore for an incredible Rs 10.75 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction, displayed his class.
Uttar Pradesh set a fighting target of 161 runs, and Bhuvneshwar's team got off to a good start thanks to his controlled bowling upfront. In his first three overs with the new ball, he gave up just six runs while applying constant pressure to the Jharkhand batters.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar's hat-trick
Bhuvneshwar returned to bowl the 17th over and took the game completely to his team's side. He took an astonishing hat-trick by taking the wickets of Robin Minz, Bal Krishna, and Vivek Anand Tiwari on consecutive deliveries. It was also a maiden over. The veteran pacer finished his spell with the figures of 4-1-6-3. He also became the fourth bowler to take a hat-trick in this season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He has joined the list with Akash Madhwal, Shreyas Gopal and Felix Almeao.
Bhuvneshwar also made history earlier in the competition when he overtook Jasprit Bumrah to become the first Indian pacer to reach 300 T20 wickets. The only spinners who are ahead of him among all Indian bowlers are Yuzvendra Chahal (364), Piyush Chawla (319), and Ravichandran Ashwin (310).
In 2009, Bhuvneshwar made his T20 debut with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, going wicketless in the Champions League T20. Now, fifteen years later, he rejoins RCB as one of the T20 cricket's most successful seamers. With an IPL agreement to go along with a record-breaking SMAT season, the Meerut swing king is still a formidable opponent.
