Jaydev Unadkat takes first-over hat-trick vs Delhi in Ranji Trophy; registers this rare feat

The Ranji Trophy 2022–23 is underway, and with every match, it is giving fans some really good moments. That's what happened on Tuesday, when Delhi locked horns with Saurashtra at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. Delhi won the toss and elected to bat first.

But that decision totally backfired on them, as they had a horrible batting performance upfront. It started with Saurashtra skipper Jadev Unadkat, who achieved a very rare feat for an Indian bowler. Unadkat registered a hat-trick on the very first over of the inning.

He dismissed Dhruv Shorey, Vaibhav Rawal, and skipper Yash Dhull on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th balls of the over to complete his hat-trick. With this, he also became the first ever bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of the match in Ranji Trophy history.

His hat-trick opened the floodgates for Delhi, as they lost their seven wickets for just 10 runs in five overs. Unadkat has taken 6/20 so far. Five out of the first six batters for Delhi couldn't open their accounts.

Notably, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan was the first Indian to complete a hat-trick in the very first over of the red-ball game, which came against Pakistan, but Unadkat is the first bowler in the Ranji Trophy to do so.

The left-arm pacer completed his five-wicket haul in his first two overs. Unadkat recently made his comeback to the Indian test side in the second test against Bangladesh in December, after a long wait of 12 years. He was rewarded for some consistent performance at the domestic level.

He led Saurashtra to the Vijay Hazare Trophy win and also picked up 19 wickets in 10 innings with an economy rate of 3.33. The left-arm pacer will also be seen in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Lucknow Super Giants bought him for his base price of INR 50 lakh.