For the second consecutive match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, an Indian left-arm bowler was within a whisker of achieving a hat-trick. Having narrowly missed out on the achievement against Bangladesh, Axar Patel was followed by Kuldeep Yadav, who also found himself on the verge of a hat-trick in India’s high-tension Group A encounter against Pakistan in Dubai.

Pakistan’s middle order, with Salman Agha and Khushdil Shah at the helm, was recovering from a mini-collapse, steadying the innings after Mohammad Rizwan fell to Axar. The stand was starting to look ominous for India when Kuldeep was brought back into the attack, and he turned the game on its head instantly.

Bowling the 43rd over, Kuldeep struck with his first ball, dismissing Agha, who tried to play an attacking shot but miscued it. Ravindra Jadeja ran in close to the cover point and pulled off a stunning sliding catch to send Agha back to the pavilion.

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The next ball had Shaheen Afridi caught plumb in front by a clever googly. The left-arm pacer decided to go for a review, but Hawk-Eye showed three reds, and he was out. The twin blows left Pakistan at 200/7.

 

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History within view, Kuldeep steamed in for the hat-trick ball, but Naseem Shah defended it, keeping India from another storied milestone. Though the hat-trick did not come to him, Kuldeep’s phenomenal spell had emphatically placed India in charge of the match, adding another testament to his evolving legacy as one of the great wrist spinners of world cricket.

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India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.

Pakistan (Playing XI): Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(wk/captain), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.