Axar Patel, the man who was once called just a roller of the ball by Sunil Gavaskar, has now became the first bowler to register a hat-trick in the current edition of Indian Premier League.
It took 28 matches this season for a hattrick and it came from Kings XI Punjab’s Axar, as the league strugglers stunned table-toppers Gujarat Lions.
The man who “just rolls the ball, does not have the flight and deliveries are very much predictable, does not turn the ball unless the pitch is favourable, is slightly slower than medium pace” produced three excellent deliveries to dismiss Dinesh Karthick, Dwayne Bravo off the last two balls of the seventh over and Ravindra Jadeja off the first ball of the 11th.
(Replays suggest Jadeja was perhaps unlucky to be given out, but Axar won’t care a jot!)
The best moment of the hattrick has to be Axar breaking out in an imitation of Bravo’s “Champyaan” dance after breaching the defence of the West Indian all-rounder.
Not bad, Axar. Not bad!
Punjab went on to register a rare win and Axar was, of course, declared Man of the Match for his terrific figures of 4-0-21-4.
And his four wickets came in the space of five balls!
We are wondering if Sunil Gavaskar still thinks he just ‘rolls the ball.’
Watch Axar Patel’s hattrick video below.
Feature image source: IPL
