WATCH: First hat-trick of IPL 2023! Afghan Spinner claims Russell, Narine and Thakur in an intense battle

Rashid Khan is a freak in T20 cricket. He took a maiden IPL hat-trick today against Kolkata Knight Riders. Rashid achieved this feat in the 17th over of the match.

Rashid Khan gets prize wickets to take a hat-trick

Rashid Khan didn’t have a great time before coming to deliver his final over of the match. But he is known to create magic on the field. When Rashid came to bowl, KKR required 50 runs in the final four overs.

They had Andre Russell and Rinku Singh batting on the crease. Rashid first removed the dangerous Russell with a quicker and shorter-length googly. The umpire didn’t raise his finger, but GT reviewed it to overturn the decision.

He then took out Sunil Narine, who was more than capable of hitting the big shots. The 24-year-old again delivered a googly on the middle-stump line. Narine hit it across the line and was caught in the deep midwicket region.

His hattrick delivery was a beauty, or, say, a typical Rashid Khan delivery. He again bowled a googly on the middle stump, and the ball turned in sharply. It hit Shardul’s pads, and the umpire raised his finger straightaway this time around. This was too good a delivery for Shardul Thakur, who was facing his first ball of the game. Rashid completed a well-deserved hat-trick.

This was his first-ever IPL hat-trick and the fourth in T20 cricket. Rashid Khan has now a hat-trick in Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Big Bash League (BBL), T20Is, and the Indian Premier League (IPL). He now holds the record of having the most number of hat-tricks in the history of T20 cricket.

Rashid Khan couldn’t have chosen a better time to achieve this milestone. He was the captain of Gujarat Titans today in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who is ill. Rashid Khan led from the front and brought his team back into the contest.

However, his hat-trick went in vain due to Rinku Singh’s brilliance in the last over. KKR required 28 runs off the last five balls, and Rinku hit five outrageous maximums to guide his team home. It’s never easy to overshadow a hat-trick. But it seems Rinku Singh can also do anything on the cricket field, just like Rashid Khan.