Three in Three: The IPL's Most Famous Hat-Tricks
Balaji went first, Yuvraj took two in a fortnight and Amit Mishra took three for three teams. The stories behind the league's best hat-tricks.
The IPL is famous for batting, but some of its best moments belong to bowlers. A hat-trick, three wickets in three consecutive balls, is rare in any form of cricket. In a league built for big hitting, it is rarer still, and every one has a story.
Balaji goes first, 2008
The IPL's first hat-trick came in its first season. Chennai Super Kings seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji dismissed Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and VRV Singh of Kings XI Punjab at Chepauk, and finished with five wickets in the match. Later that season, Delhi's Amit Mishra took one against Deccan Chargers.
Yuvraj takes two, 2009
In 2009, the tournament moved to South Africa, and Yuvraj Singh, better known for his batting, did something no other IPL bowler has done. Bowling his part-time left-arm spin for Kings XI Punjab, he took a hat-trick against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Durban, and then another against Deccan Chargers in Johannesburg a little over two weeks later. The same season, Deccan's Rohit Sharma, also a part-time bowler, took one against Mumbai Indians.
Mishra's three, for three teams
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra holds the record for the most IPL hat-tricks, with three. Each one came for a different franchise: Delhi Daredevils in 2008, Deccan Chargers in 2011 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013. His skill was deceiving batters with flight and changes of pace, which led to stumpings and catches as batters tried to attack him.
Hat-tricks in the modern IPL
In 2021, Harshal Patel of Royal Challengers Bangalore took a hat-trick against Mumbai Indians in Dubai, removing Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Rahul Chahar. He finished that season with 32 wickets, equalling the record for a single IPL season.
In 2022, Yuzvendra Chahal took four wickets in one over against Kolkata Knight Riders, including a hat-trick, and finished with five for the match. Chahal would go on to become the IPL's leading wicket-taker of all time.
Rashid's hat-trick, and Rinku's reply
The strangest hat-trick came in April 2023 in Ahmedabad. Standing in as Gujarat Titans captain, Rashid Khan dismissed Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur off consecutive balls, and Gujarat looked certain to win. Then Rinku Singh hit the last five balls of the match for six, and Kolkata, who had needed 29 from the final over, won the match. No IPL hat-trick has ever been answered quite like it.
Hat-tricks in this story
| Season | Bowler | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Lakshmipathy Balaji | CSK | KXIP |
| 2008 | Amit Mishra | DD | DEC |
| 2009 | Yuvraj Singh | KXIP | RCB |
| 2009 | Rohit Sharma | DEC | MI |
| 2009 | Yuvraj Singh | KXIP | DEC |
| 2011 | Amit Mishra | DEC | KXIP |
| 2013 | Sunil Narine | KKR | KXIP |
| 2013 | Amit Mishra | SRH | Pune Warriors |
| 2021 | Harshal Patel | RCB | MI |
| 2022 | Yuzvendra Chahal | RR | KKR |
| 2023 | Rashid Khan | GT | KKR |
These are the hat-tricks mentioned above, not a complete list. Others have been taken by Makhaya Ntini, Praveen Kumar, Ajit Chandila, Pravin Tambe, Shane Watson, Axar Patel, Samuel Badree, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Sam Curran and Shreyas Gopal.
Stats in this story are correct to the end of the 2025 IPL season.
