Ranji Trophy 2025: Shardul Thakur takes hat-trick for Mumbai vs Meghalaya

India seamer Shardul Thakur made a sensational start to the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season with a remarkable hat-trick on Day 1 of Mumbai’s clash against Meghalaya at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC in Mumbai. 

 

Thakur, opening the bowling for Mumbai, wasted no time in making an impact. In the very first over of the match, he sent Meghalaya opener Nishanta Chakraborty back to the pavilion for a duck. But his brilliance didn't stop there. In the third over, Thakur delivered a memorable hat-trick, dismissing B Anirudh, Sumit Kumar, and Jaskirat, all for ducks, with three consecutive deliveries reducing the Meghalaya batting order to 2/6. This hat-trick marked his first-ever in First-Class cricket, a milestone in his career. 

 

Thakur’s performance was all the more significant considering his previous match, where he had scored a blistering century for Mumbai in their loss to Jammu & Kashmir, putting their knockout hopes at risk. His fiery spell with the ball against Meghalaya not only demonstrated his all-around abilities but also gave Mumbai a commanding start to the match. 

Shardul eyeing spot in England tour

 

Shardul has been grabbing the attention for all the good reasons during Mumbai's Ranji Trophy matches. His exploits with the ball has been well-supported with the bat as well as the all-rounder went on to score a century in Mumbai's previous match against Jammu and Kashmir on a day where Indian star batter Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal among others failed to perform in the middle.

 

It will be interesting to see whether the 33-year-old would be considered for the upcoing 5-match Test series against England this year.