Who is Arpit Guleria? 5 interesting facts about the pacer who took 8 wickets in today’s Vijay Hazare Trophy match

Arpit Guleria, 26, made history by claiming historic bowling figures of 8-50 in Himachal Pradesh's match against Gujarat on Tuesday, December 5, in the 2023 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The right-arm pacer bowled nine overs, with his spell resulting in Gujarat getting bowled out for 327 runs in Chandigarh.

His first wicket came in the 38th over of the innings when Gujarat were cruising at 235-1. He then struck twice in the 40th over and took four wickets in the penultimate over of the innings, but missed out on a hattrick.

His efforts, however, went in vain as Himachal Pradesh fell narrowly short of the target. Despite Prasanth Chopra and Sumeet Varma scoring fifties, they could only finish with 319.

Despite the thrilling nature of the contest, it will largely be remembered for Arpit Guleria's mesmerizing performance. It has already made the world take notice of the pacer, and the majority of the fans have little to no information about his talent.

On that note, let us take a look at interesting facts about Arpit Guleria who took eight wickets in today’s Vijay Hazare Trophy match.

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#1 13th bowler to achieve the landmark of an eight-wicket haul in List-A cricket

Taking eight wickets in a List-A contest is no mere feat, which is the reason why only 12 bowlers were able to achieve the feat before Arpit Guleria.

In terms of Indians, only two bowlers - Shahbaz Nadeem (8/10) and Rahul Sanghvi (8/15) - have ever taken eight wickets in List-A cricket in the past.

Chaminda Vaas remains the only bowler to pick up eight wickets in an international 50-over match.

However, some notable bowlers like Shaun Tait and Michael Holding have also claimed eight wickets in a List-A fixture.

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#2 He was recently released by LSG

Arpit Guleria was named as a replacement player by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) midway through the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. He was roped in for a sum of ₹20 lakh following Mayank Yadav's injury.

The pacer did not avail an opportunity as LSG went on to exit the competition in the Eliminator stage for the second year running. LSG recently announced their list of retained and released players ahead of the IPL 2024, and Guleria has found himself back in the player pool again.

The performance against Gujarat arguably could not have come at a better time with the IPL 2024 mini-auction only a couple of weeks away.

Several franchises might be interested in his services after watching his recent display, and emerging Indian pacers are always a prized commodity in the squad.

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#3 His maiden wicket in List-A Cricket was Ruturaj Gaikwad

Arpit Guleria made his List-A debut against Maharashtra in the 2019 edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He picked up two wickets in his nine overs, which included a maiden while conceding 24 runs.

His maiden scalp was the one of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the very first over of his List-A career.

Despite his probing spell on debut, Maharashtra were able to chase down the 202-run target with eight balls to spare.

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#4 He switched domestic sides from Himachal Pradesh to Services in 2022

Arpit Guleria made his first-class debut in the 2018 Ranji Trophy season while representing Himachal Pradesh. He played for his home state from 2018 to 2022, before switching to the Services domestic team.

Guleria was not part of the Rishi Dhawan-led Himachal Pradesh side that won the 2022 edition of the Vijay Hazare trophy.

After one season, he reverted to the Himachal Pradesh domestic team and has played in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament and the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. He is also expected to be part of the Ranji Trophy squad early next year.

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#5 He made his T20 debut in the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Surprisingly, in a rare case these days, Arpit Guleria made his T20 debut five years after he made his first-class debut.

As previously mentioned, his first red-ball contest came in 2018, but his maiden T20 appearance came in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

He has only played two T20 matches in his career so far, where he has taken one wicket at an economy of 7.83.

Interestingly, had LSG given him an opportunity earlier in the 2023 season, it would have marked his maiden T20 contest. It would have been a very rare instance, with the majority of the players making their debut at the domestic level first across formats.