Rohit Sharma IPL Hat-Trick

Rohit Sharma IPL Hat-Trick

Rohit Sharma took an IPL hat-trick for Deccan Chargers against Mumbai Indians at Centurion on 6 May 2009, dismissing Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, and JP Duminy with three consecutive deliveries. It remains his only IPL hat-trick, and it is one of the most surprising bowling feats in tournament history, because Rohit is a specialist batsman who bowled part-time off-spin. His figures of 4 for 6 in two overs won the match and earned him the Player of the Match award.

The hat-trick is remembered for its sheer improbability. Mumbai Indians were cruising at 103 for 4, needing 43 runs from 30 balls with six wickets in hand, when captain Adam Gilchrist threw the ball to his part-time off-spinner. Five balls later, Rohit had taken four wickets, Mumbai had collapsed, and Deccan had won a match they had looked certain to lose. This guide tells the full story of that night, explains what a split hat-trick is, and places Rohit’s feat in the history of IPL hat-tricks.

The Hat-Trick: Ball by Ball

Delivery	Over	Batsman	Score	How Out
1st of the hat-trick	16th over, 5th ball	Abhishek Nayar	1	Bowled
2nd of the hat-trick	16th over, 6th ball	Harbhajan Singh	0	Dismissed first ball
3rd of the hat-trick	18th over, 1st ball	JP Duminy	52	Caught behind by Gilchrist

The sequence began in the 16th over. Mumbai, chasing Deccan’s 145 for 6, had reached 103 for 4 and were in control, with the well-set JP Duminy at the crease. Gilchrist handed the ball to Rohit, a part-time off-spinner bowling his gentle off-breaks. Rohit dismissed Abhishek Nayar and then Harbhajan Singh off the final two balls of the over, two wickets in two balls, and the match tilted.

Gilchrist then held Rohit back for an over, bringing him back for the 18th over. With his very first ball of that over, Rohit dismissed the dangerous Duminy for 52, caught behind by Gilchrist, to complete the hat-trick. One ball later in the sequence of events, he added Saurabh Tiwary, stumped by Gilchrist, to finish with four wickets in five balls. Mumbai were restricted to 126 for 8, and Deccan won by 19 runs.

What Is a Split Hat-Trick?

Rohit Sharma’s hat-trick is known as a split hat-trick, because the three wicket-taking deliveries were not all bowled in the same over. His first two hat-trick wickets came off the last two balls of the 16th over, and the third came off the first ball of the 18th over, after another bowler had bowled the 17th. The rules of cricket still count this as a hat-trick: the requirement is three wickets with three consecutive deliveries by the same bowler, even if an over by another bowler intervenes.

It was the second split hat-trick in IPL history, after Makhaya Ntini’s for Chennai Super Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural 2008 season. Split hat-tricks are rare because they require a captain to bring a bowler back at exactly the right moment and the bowler to strike immediately. Gilchrist’s decision to hold Rohit back for the 18th over, and Rohit’s instant strike, made the feat possible.

The Match: Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians, 6 May 2009

Detail	Information
Date	6 May 2009
Match	Match 32, IPL 2009
Venue	SuperSport Park, Centurion, South Africa
Deccan Chargers	145/6 in 20 overs
Mumbai Indians	126/8 in 20 overs
Result	Deccan Chargers won by 19 runs
Rohit Sharma	38 runs with the bat, 4/6 with the ball, Player of the Match

The 2009 IPL was staged in South Africa, and the match at Centurion was a mid-table clash with real consequences for the playoffs. Deccan won the toss and batted first, posting 145 for 6. Rohit top-scored for his side with 38 off 36 balls, a useful rather than spectacular contribution on a pitch where strokeplay was not easy.

Mumbai’s chase had been going to plan. At 103 for 4 in the 16th over, with Duminy set, they were favourites. Rohit’s hat-trick changed everything. After Duminy’s dismissal, Mumbai’s lower order could not recover, and Deccan closed out a 19-run win that kept their season alive. Rohit’s all-round performance, 38 runs and 4 for 6, made him the obvious Player of the Match.

The 2009 Season: From Last Place to Champions

The hat-trick was the defining moment of Rohit’s 2009 season, but the season itself was one of the great turnaround stories in IPL history. Deccan Chargers had finished last in the inaugural 2008 season. In 2009, under Adam Gilchrist, they turned it around completely and lifted the trophy, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore in a last-over thriller in the final at Johannesburg.

Rohit was at the heart of that revival. He was named the Emerging Player of the Year for 2009 after scoring 362 runs in 16 matches at an average of 27.84 and a strike rate of 114.92, and his hat-trick against Mumbai was the standout moment of his campaign. At 22 years and six days old, he became the youngest Indian to take an IPL hat-trick, a record that still stands. He would later describe his own disbelief at the feat, admitting in later interviews that he could barely believe he had taken a hat-trick against the franchise he would go on to represent for more than a decade.

Rohit stayed with Deccan Chargers for three seasons, from 2008 to 2010, before joining Mumbai Indians in the 2011 auction. He went on to captain Mumbai from 2013 to 2023, leading them to five IPL titles. The irony of his hat-trick, taken against the team he would become synonymous with, has only grown with time.

Rohit Sharma the Bowler

Rohit Sharma is remembered as one of the greatest white-ball batsmen in cricket history, but his early career included genuine bowling ability. He bowled off-spin as a junior and continued to bowl occasionally in his first IPL seasons. His IPL bowling record tells the story of a batsman who could genuinely contribute with the ball when called upon.

IPL Bowling Record	Figure
IPL wickets	15
Best bowling figures	4/6 vs Mumbai Indians, 2009
IPL hat-tricks	1
Four-wicket hauls	1

Rohit rarely bowls in the IPL now. A finger injury early in his career affected his grip on the ball, and as his batting responsibilities grew, his bowling faded from his role. He has said himself that he no longer remembers how he used to bowl in those early seasons. That makes the 2009 hat-trick even more remarkable: it was produced by a batsman bowling part-time, in a pressure situation, against a team full of international batsmen.

IPL Hat-Tricks: Where Rohit Fits In

A total of 23 hat-tricks have been recorded in IPL history. Amit Mishra leads the list with three, achieved for three different teams in 2008, 2011, and 2013. Yuvraj Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal have two each. Rohit’s is one of only a handful taken by a player who was primarily a batsman, and it stands out because the other batting star on the list, Yuvraj, was a genuine frontline bowling option in his prime. For the complete list, see the most hat-tricks in IPL guide.

Player	Hat-Tricks	Seasons
Amit Mishra	3	2008, 2011, 2013
Yuvraj Singh	2	2009 (twice)
Yuzvendra Chahal	2	2022, 2025
Rohit Sharma	1	2009
19 other bowlers	1 each	2008–2023

Yuvraj Singh’s two hat-tricks both came in the same 2009 season, for Kings XI Punjab, against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers. The most recent IPL hat-tricks came from Rashid Khan for Gujarat Titans against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2023 and Yuzvendra Chahal for Punjab Kings against Chennai Super Kings in 2025. No hat-trick was recorded in the 2024 season.

Rohit’s hat-trick is also notable for the quality of its victims. JP Duminy was one of the most in-form batsmen of the 2009 tournament, and removing him at the decisive moment of a tight chase was the act that won the match. Harbhajan Singh was Mumbai’s captain and most experienced campaigner. That a part-time bowler dismissed both in the space of three deliveries is why the spell is still talked about more than a decade and a half later.

Rohit’s batting career went on to far greater heights than his bowling ever did. His Rohit Sharma IPL stats show a batsman who became the league’s most successful captain and one of its highest run-scorers, while his Rohit Sharma centuries in IPL include some of the most celebrated innings in the tournament. But for pure surprise, nothing in his IPL career matches the evening at Centurion when the part-time off-spinner took a hat-trick.

Did Rohit Sharma take an IPL hat-trick?

Yes. Rohit took an IPL hat-trick for Deccan Chargers against Mumbai Indians at Centurion on 6 May 2009, dismissing Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, and JP Duminy.

How many IPL hat-tricks does Rohit Sharma have?

One, in the 2009 season. It remains his only IPL hat-trick.

What were Rohit Sharma’s bowling figures in his hat-trick match?

Rohit finished with 4 for 6 in two overs, including four wickets in five balls. He was named Player of the Match.

Who has taken the most IPL hat-tricks?

Amit Mishra leads with three IPL hat-tricks (2008, 2011, 2013). Yuvraj Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal have two each.

What is a split hat-trick in cricket?

A split hat-trick is three wickets with three consecutive deliveries by the same bowler where the wickets fall across two overs, with another bowler’s over in between. Rohit’s hat-trick was split across the 16th and 18th overs.

Was Rohit Sharma the youngest Indian to take an IPL hat-trick?

Yes. At 22 years and six days old, Rohit remains the youngest Indian to take a hat-trick in IPL history.