World Cup 2019 | Former Indian pacer Chetan Sharma reminisces his World Cup hat-trick as the nation celebrates Mohammed Shami's feat against Afghanistan

Mohammed Shami in India’s match against Afghanistan on Saturday in Southampton was making a comeback to the Playing XI replacing Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He was given the task of defending 16 runs in the last over with pinch hitter Mohammad Nabi on the crease. Not only Shami defended the sum of 16 runs but he did it with a match-winning hat-trick. Shami became the second Indian after Chetan Sharma to achieve the feat in a World Cup. The joyous former Haryana paceman registered a hat-trick in 1987 against New Zealand. Sharma is pleased by Shami’s achievement and is delighted that another countryman accompanies him. Sharma said that Shami’s hat-trick made him nostalgic and took him to Nagpur's VCA Ground 32 years ago when he had achieved the feat.

Sharma is confident that Shami’s hat-trick will help the current generation revisit and reminisce what he achieved three decades ago. He pointed out that young fans will now know that the first World Cup hat-trick was taken by an Indian.

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Sharma remembers that the world was at his feet when he took the Hat-trick, when he boarded the flight with the team for the semifinal, everyone welcomed him with a standing ovation. It was the most memorable day for Sharma, he added that he still gets goosebumps thinking about that day. He feels that the feeling is beyond comparison. 

Sharma drew out the similarities between Shami’s and his feet. Both of them are right-arm pacers and both got the leg-stump uprooted to get their hat-trick. Sharma also thinks it’s funny that both of them sported beards. While Sharma had all his three dismissals - Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith, and Ewen Chatfield - bowled, Shami's first (Mohammad Nabi) was a catch at long-on while the other two batsmen were castled.

Sharma feels it’s sad that most of the fans remember him for the six Javed Miandad hit off his last ball at the Australasia Cup final in 1986. He would prefer people to remember him for the hat-trick that he took next year at the World Cup and Sharma extended his thanks to Shami as he feels now people will.

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