IPL 2020: 3 Batsmen who have a hat-trick to their name

The Indian Premier League is set to return with its 13th season from 29 March this year. Since it began in 2008, the IPL has widely been a tournament loved by fans and players alike. There's just about 20 days left until the famous T20 league returns as fans eagerly wait for the start of the tournament.

The IPL has given young budding cricketers a platform to express themselves on a widescale platform and this season will be no different. Many batsmen and bowlers have impressed with their sizzling performances in IPL throughout the last 12 years. One thing thats considerably tough to do in any format of the game is taking a hat-trick.

Although a difficult feat to achieve, many players have still achieved this in the short history of the Indian Premier League. Like bowlers, there have been few batsmen as well who have taken a hat trick in IPL. Here below, we look at three batsmen who have a IPL hat trick to their name.

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1. Shane Watson

Shane Watson's batting ability is well-documented and his heroic century in the 2018 IPL final goes on to show that he can deliver in clutch situations. What's often overlooked, though, is the Aussie all-rounder's ability with the ball. Despite being an opening batsman, Watson has also been impressive with the ball throughout his career. The Australian opener took a hat-trick against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014.

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Watson was Rajasthan's skipper and against Hyderabad, he led his team from the front. He took Shikhar Dhawan's wicket on the last ball of one of his overs. He then returned and completed his hat-trick in his next over with two successive wickets on the first two deliveries of the over.

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Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh is well known for his batting feats all across the world. The former India international once hit six sixes in a row while facing Stuart Broad in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. Although famous for his batting, Yuvraj boasts a IPL hat-trick to his name.

The Indian all-rounder took a hat-trick against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009. Yuvraj took two successive wickets of Robin Uthappa and Jacques Kallis in the last two deliveries of the 12th over and then on the first ball of his next over, he sent Mark Boucher back to the pavilion. Unfortunately despite his heroics, his team failed to win that match.

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Rohit Sharma

One of Indian cricket's modern flag-bearers, Rohit Sharma is well known for his batting capability but surprisingly he also has a IPL hat-trick to his name. The destructive Indian opener did the unthinkable against his current team Mumbai Indians while playing for Deccan Chargers Hyderabad in 2009.

In the second innings, Mumbai Indians needed 43 runs from the last 26 deliveries of the match, after which Rohit Sharma took three wickets in a row. He took the wickets of Abhishek Nayar and Harbhajan Singh and then sent South African batsman JP Duminy back to the dressing room on the first ball of his next over. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his performance in his team's victory over the Indians.