On this day: Alok Kapali becomes the first Bangladeshi to take a hattrick
"I thought it would be difficult to get Yousuf out. But if it was Umar Gul, I thought I had a chance," recalled Kapali.
On this day in 2003, Alok Kapali became the first Bangladeshi bowler to record a hattrick in international cricket. The part-time leg break bowler picked up three in three against Pakistan in the second match of one of the most eventful Test series Bangladesh have ever been part of.
Bangladesh were in a great position in that Test, taking a first-innings lead of 66 runs but Pakistan won the match easily after the Bangladeshi batting line-up collapsed in the second innings.
Kapali couldn't do much with the bat in the first innings. He used to bowl occasional leg-breaks and skipper Khaled Mahmud called him to roll his arm over. "We need a breakthrough. Try to bowl in good areas," said Mahmud to Kapali. Shabbir Ahmed was batting then with a well-set Mohammad Yousuf. Mohammad Rafique bowled a long spell and Kapali was brought for a change.
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Kapali's plan was to let Yousuf take a single and stay off strike. He planned to target Shabbir and bowl stump to stump. Kapali got rid of Shabbir and Danish Kaneria in the fifth and sixth delivery of his second over which meant he would be on a hat-trick in the first ball of his next over.
"I thought it would be difficult to get Yousuf out. But if it was Umar Gul, I thought I had a chance," recalled Kapali.
Luckily for him, Gul was on strike and Kapali bowled a straighter one and trapped him leg-before. Kapali, 19 then, was the youngest bowler to take a Test hat-trick. The record was broken only last year when Pakistan's Naseem Shah took a hat-trick against Bangladesh at the age of 16.
Interestingly, Alok Kapali has only six wickets to his name and this is the fewest total Test wickets by any player having a hat-trick.
"After that, few Bangladeshi bowlers have taken hat-tricks. But mine will always remain the first. A hat-trick is always special if you're a bowler. It was even more special to me because I did it against Pakistan who were one of the best sides at that time," Kapali said in an interview to The Business Standard (TBS) last year.
"Years after the hat-trick, a little brother of mine called me and said that in his question paper, one of the questions was about my hat-trick. This was a very special moment," the all-rounder added.
Alok Kapali played 17 Tests, 69 ODIs and seven T20Is for Bangladesh and terms the hat-trick his 'greatest achievement' in international cricket.
