Himachal Pradesh pacer Arpit Guleria wreaked havoc against Gujarat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023 clash at Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh on December 5. With eight wickets for 59 runs, Guleria became the third Indian to take an eight-wicket haul in List A cricket after Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Sanghvi.
It is to be taken into account that Gujarat did not lose a single wicket until the 33rd over. Urvil Patel and Priyank Panchal shared a 211-run partnership before Mayank Dagar took his wicket. Patel scored 116 runs from 93 balls including 12 fours and five sixes. In the 38th over, Guleria got his first wicket as Panchal missed his century by just two runs.
In his next over, he sent Umang Kumar packing followed by Saurav Chauhan. Kshijit Patel could not make an impact either and departed for a single-digit score. Apart from Hemang Patel, every other batter failed. Rishi Dhawan ended his came of 24-ball 35 in the 48th over.
Guleria was given the opportunity to bowl the penultimate over. He took four wickets but did not take a hat-trick. The first wicket of Chirag Gandhi came off the first ball of the over. Gandhi scored 42 runs from 23 balls. On the third ball, Aarya Desai fell. On the last two deliveries, Chintan Gaja and Jayveer Parmar were dismissed as Guleria created history. From nine overs he bowled, he conceded 50 runs and took eight wickets. Despite setting a good platform, Gujarat were bowled out for 327 in 49 overs.
So far, only one bowler has taken eight wickets in an innings in ODIs. Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas took eight wickets for 19 runs against Zimbabwe in 2001. Nadeem is on top of the list as he took eight wickets for 10 runs for Jharkhand against Rajasthan in 2018. He broke the record held by Sanghvi who took eight wickets for 15 runs against Delhi in 1997.
Guleria is the 13th bowler overall to take eight wickets in an innings in List A cricket. Other big names on the list are West Indies' Michael Holding and Australia's Shaun Tait.
Last year, Guleria was picked up by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as a replacement for an injured Mayank Yadav. However, ahead of the IPL mini-auction, he was released by the franchise.
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