New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi picked up a hat-trick in the Duleep Trophy on Friday. He took three consecutive wickets in the North Zone’s quarter-final against East Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru.
In the 53rd over, Auqib Nabi dismantled East Zone’s batting line-up with three wickets on the last three deliveries. He removed Suraj Jaiswal for 10 runs, who was caught by wicket-keeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan. He then dismissed Manishi for a duck and also removed Mukhtar Hussain on 0.
Earlier in the innings, Nabi dismissed Virat Singh for 69 runs and eventually ended East Zone’s first innings on 230 runs by dismissing Mohammed Shami on just 1 run to complete his five-wicket haul.
Auqib Nabi joins Kapil Dev in elite list
He became the third bowler to take a hat-trick in the Duleep Trophy after Kapil Dev and Sairaj Bahutule. Legendary Kapil Dev achieved this feat during North Zone’s match against West Zone at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi during the 1978/79 season, while Sairaj Bahutule completed this milestone while playing for West Zone against East Zone at the Nehru Stadium in Pune in the 2000/01 season.
List of hat-tricks in Duleep Trophy history
1) Kapil Dev – North Zone vs West Zone, 1978
2) Sairaj Bahutule – West Zone vs East Zone, 2001
3) Auqib Nabi – North Zone vs East Zone, 2025
Four wickets in four balls by an Indian in First Class cricket
1) SS Saini – Delhi vs Himachal Pradesh, 1988-89
2) Mohammed Mudhasir – Jammu & Kashmir vs Rajasthan, 2018-19
3) Kulwant Khejroliya – Madhya Pradesh vs Baroda, 2023-24
4) Auqib Nabi – North Zone vs East Zone, 2025-26
(Stats by-Sportstar)
Auqib has played 29 matches in First-Class cricket and picked up 90 wickets at a stunning average of 22.12. He has played 29 matches in List A cricket and taken 41 wickets at an average of 28.88.
North Zone resumed the batting on Day 2 and bundled out for 405 runs in the first innings. Kanhaiya Wadhawan (76), Ayush Badoni (63) played a key role in helping their team to post a massive score. In reply, East Zone got bowled out for just 230 runs. Virat Singh batted brilliantly, but other batters failed to make any impact.