Shreyas Gopal, who was recently purchased by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, is in sensational form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024. Playing for Karnataka against Baroda at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore, he took a hat-trick. In the 11th over of the Baroda’s innings, he got rid of Shashank Rawat, who managed 63 runs in just 37 balls.

Gopal then got the wickets of Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya, who failed to open their accounts. While Hardik was caught by Manoj Bhandage, Krunal was caught and bowled.

It was the 25th hat trick in the history of SMAT. Gopal is the first bowler to take two hat-tricks in the tournament, having achieved the milestone in 2019 during a match against Haryana, where he sent back Nitin Saini, Jayant Yadav and Amit Mishra to the dressing room.

This is the third T20 hat-trick of the spinner’s career, having recorded one in the Indian Premier League (IPL) game in 2019. Playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR), the 31-year-old dismissed three Royal Challengers Bengaluru batters, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Marcus Stoinis, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Gopal has equalled Amit Mishra’s record of most hat-tricks in the shortest format. Mishra took all the hat-tricks in the Indian Premier League with one each in 2008, 2011, and 2013.

In 49 IPL matches, he has taken 49 wickets at an economy rate of 8.11

He has been a part of Mumbai Indians, RR, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and CSK in the IPL.