Kuldeep Yadav, the India left-arm wrist spinner, looked back at his hat-trick in an ODI against Australia in 2017, and remembered the suggestion from MS Dhoni that helped him achieve the rare feat.

Kuldeep dismissed Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins in the 33rd over of Australia’s chase of 253 in Eden Gardens, as Australia were reduced to 148-8. India went on to win by 50 runs, and take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Kuldeep was playing just his ninth ODI, and ended with 3-54, but reiterates that it’s impossible to execute a hat-trick “in a planned way”. “I don’t think you can ever take a hat-trick in a planned way,” Kuldeep told kkr.in. “Honestly, I didn’t dream of taking a hat-trick. Eden had become my home ground by this time. I remember I bowled the first few overs and I wasn’t comfortable bowling in half t-shirts.

“So I went back to the dressing room and changed into my full-sleeve jersey. I spoke to Virat [Kohli] bhai and asked him if I could bowl from the other end. He said once Chahal’s spell was over, I could bowl from that end. I struck a very good rhythm, and started bowling in the spot.”

Kuldeep revealed he was “confused” ahead of the hat-trick ball, and turned to Dhoni for advice. “I got my first wicket of Matthew Wade, and then in the next ball I plucked Ashton Agar,” he said. “For the third ball, I asked Mahi bhai what to bowl. When you have so many variations, you get confused. He just let me do whatever I felt was right, but suggested that I kept it to the stumps.

Focus 😌

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“I kept a slip and gully in place. Luckily, I bowled a good ball and got the edge. Getting a hat-trick at Eden Garden, that too in the first year of international cricket, is a big thing and this was one of the biggest moments of my life.”

Kuldeep also took a hat-trick in an ODI against West Indies last year, and became the first India men’s player to take two international hat-tricks. “For the second hat-trick, you might not believe me, but I had told my mom that day that I would take a hat-trick,” he said.

“A lot of times, what I said turned out true. I guess it was just a random moment when we were batting against the Windies that I just realised I would take a hat-trick. Things panned out just the way I had planned.”