#OnThisDay : 15 Years Since Irfan Pathan’s Historic Hat-Trick Against Pakistan, Watch Video Here

Irfan Pathan became the first bowler to pick up a hat-trick in the opening over of a Test match against Pakistan and wrote history in 2006.

Irfan Pathan's hat-trick of 2006 completed 15 years. (Source: Getty Images)

It’s been 15 years since the historic opening spell by Irfan Pathan against Pakistan. It was the year 2006 and India was playing the third of a three-match Test series against Pakistan in Karachi. The first two games had ended in a draw and thus, all eyes were on the Karachi Test. India won the toss and Rahul Dravid sent Pakistan in to bat first. A young and fiery Irfan Pathan took the new ball and didn’t disappoint anybody. He picked up Salman Butt, an in-form Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf and completed his hat-trick in the very first over of the Test match. Pathan became the first player to do so. ICC’s official Twitter account tweeted “#OnThisDay in 2006, @IrfanPathan became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the opening over of a Test!” praising the retired fast-bowler.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>#OnThisDay</a> in 2006, <a href="https://twitter.com/IrfanPathan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>@IrfanPathan</a> became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the opening over of a Test! 🎩🎩🎩 <a href="https://t.co/e9MTTODEwu" rel='nofollow'>pic.twitter.com/e9MTTODEwu</a></p>&mdash; ICC (@ICC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1355003249535967232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>January 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Although, Irfan Pathan gave a good start to the Indian innings, India lost the Test match by 341 runs and eventually lost the series 1-0. Not just the hat-trick but India managed to pick three more wickets in the first ten overs. Pakistan were 39-6, but then a young wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal steadied the ship for the hosts. Surprisingly, Shoaib Akhtar played a crucial 45 alongside Akmal to take Pakistan’s to a respectable total of 245 in the first innings. But they came back strong in the second innings to set a mammoth target of 606.

India crumbled down without respite. Even though Yuvraj Singh scored a century in the second innings, he couldn’t rescue India from the clutches of defeat. The Test match was wrapped up on the fourth day of the Test. Although, it will always be remembered for a class swing-bowling attack by Irfan Pathan.

Watch the video here:

This was the last series played between India and Pakistan on Pakistani soil. After this, India and Pakistan played just one another Test series in India in 2007 which India won 1-0. Irfan Pathan will always remembered for this extraordinary feat achieved by him.