On this day in 2001: Harbhajan Singh became the first Indian bowler to register a test hat-trick.

March 11 is a historic day in Indian cricket and Harbhajan Singh’s career. On this day in 2001, the spinner became the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. He achieved this feat during the second Test match of the three-match series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. After losing the first match, India staged a turnaround and won the series, winning the other two matches. Taking to Twitter, the 40-year-old posted an exhausting photo from the match and captioned it, “Moment changed my life #Hattrick #Grateful @BCCI”.

The moment that changed my life # Hattrick #Thankful @ BCCI pic.twitter.com/8Is0UothJh

– Harbhajan Turbator (@harhajan_singh) March 11, 2021

Australia won the first Test match by 10 wickets at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. To build their fine form, the spectators were selected to bat on Day 1 of the second Test match in Kolkata.

Australia got off to a terrific start, with Matthew Hayden scoring a 97 to miss a century. Harbhajan turned India towards India after the visiting team scored 252 runs from just three balls. In the first ball, he bowled a straight ball with the wicket of Ricky Ponting. Ponting could only shuffle, failing to fully connect with the ball and got stuck.

After Ponting was dismissed, Adam Gilchrist, who scored a century in the first Test match, batted. But his time on the pitch was limited to a single ball, the ball hitting his back foot.

For his hat-trick delivery, Harbhajan was up against Shane Warne, who was surrounded by Indian fielders. Warne directed the delivery to the side, where Sadgoppan Ramesh sent Warne back to the pavilion for an excellent dive.

After three historic deliveries, Australia were crushed at 252 for seven.

Promoted

During Australia’s first innings, Harbhajan took seven wickets. In addition to Ponting, Gilchrist and Warne, he dismissed Matthew Hayden, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie.

In the epic match, VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) shared a 376-run partnership, with India registering a convincing win.