L Balaji to Harshal Patel: How many hat-tricks have taken place in the IPL?

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been graced by a number of world-class bowlers who have gone on to produce some magnificent performances which have often turned a game on its head. That's perhaps why it's said that it's the bowlers who win you games, especially in the shortest format.

Hat-tricks are quite rare in the IPL, but whenever they take place, it changes the complexion of a game completely. In a league where there are quality batters in the opposition ranks, taking a hat-trick is definitely the dream of every bowler and some have already realized it in the cash-rich league.

On that note, let's take a look at all the players so far in the history of the IPL who have taken a hat-trick:

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Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji became the first bowler ever to pick up a hat-trick in the IPL. He recorded sensational figures of 5/24 against the Kings XI Punjab in the inaugural edition of the league. Balaji's hat-trick included the wickets of Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and Vikram Singh.

Veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra also picked up a hat-trick in the 2008 season. Deccan Chargers needed 15 runs off the final over, but Mishra's hat-trick ensured that the Delhi Daredevils won the game by 12 runs.

Former CSK speedster Makhaya Ntini was also among the bowlers who picked up a hat-trick in the inaugural edition. He scalped the big wickets of Sourav Ganguly, Debabrata Das and David Hussey and played a massive role in CSK's win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

The 2009 edition of the IPL was remembered for the all-round skills of batters like Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh as hat-tricks came from the unlikeliest of sources. Deccan Chargers' Rohit picked up his hat-trick against the Mumbai Indians (MI). Yuvraj, meanwhile, remains the only player to take two hat-tricks in the same season, one against the Deccan Chargers and another against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

There were three bowlers who managed a hat-trick in the next three editions, proving why Indian bowlers are so valuable to their franchises. Praveen Kumar picked up a hat-trick in 2010, Amit Mishra in 2011 and spinner Ajit Chandila in 2012.

2013 was when Sunil Narine had already established himself as one of the best T20 bowlers in the world. Both him and Amit Mishra picked up hat-tricks that season.

2014 will be the year remembered for the brilliant bowling performances from the Rajasthan Royals as Pravin Tambe and Shane Watson picked up hat-tricks against the likes of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and KKR respectively.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who was rising up the ranks, peaked in 2016, picking up a hat-trick against the Gujarat Lions.

2017 saw three players take hat-tricks. Those were veteran West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree against MI, Andrew Tye against Rising Pune Supergiant and the highest wicket-taker that season, Jaydev Unadkat, against SRH.

Sam Curran's hat-trick against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in 2019 completely changed the complexion of the game. At one stage DC were cruising to a win, but they ultimately fell well short against Kings XI Punjab. Rajasthan Royals' Shreyas Gopal also picked up a hat-trick that year against RCB.

The most recent hat-trick in the IPL was taken by last year’s IPL Purple Cap holder Harshal Patel in 2021. His sensational performance against MI proved to be the turning point of the season for RCB.

Check out the IPL orange cap 2022 here.

List of hat-tricks in the IPL

#1 Lakshmipathy Balaji (CSK) vs KXIP, 2008

#2 Amit Mishra (DD) vs Deccan Chargers, 2008

#3 Makhaya Ntini (CSK) vs KKR, 2008

#4 Yuvraj Singh (KXIP) vs RCB, 2009

#5 Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers) vs MI, 2009

#6 Yuvraj Singh (KXIP) vs Deccan Chargers, 2009

#7 Praveen Kumar (RCB) vs RR, 2010

#8 Amit Mishra (Deccan Chargers) vs KXIP, 2011

#9 Ajit Chandila (RR) vs PWI, 2012

#10 Sunil Narine (KKR) vs KXIP, 2013

#11 Amit Mishra (SRH) vs PWI, 2013

#12 Pravin Tambe (RR) vs KKR, 2014

#13 Shane Watson (RR) vs SRH, 2014

#14 Axar Patel (KXIP) vs GL, 2016

#15 Samuel Badree (RCB) vs MI, 2017

#16 Andrew Tye (GL) vs RPS, 2017

#17 Jaydev Unadkat (RPS) vs SRH, 2017

#18 Sam Curran (KXIP) vs DC, 2019

#19 Shreyas Gopal (RR) vs RCB, 2019

#20 Harshal Patel (RCB) vs MI, 2021