Kuldeep Yadav becomes first Indian to bag two international hat-tricks
Visakhapatnam, Dec 18: Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav on Wednesday became the first India player to claim two hat-tricks in international cricket, joining an elite band that includes pace legend, Wasim Akram.
He achieved the feat during the second One-day International against the West Indies here.
The 25-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, who had claimed his first ODI hat-trick against Australia in Kolkata in 2017, dismissed Shai Hope, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph in the last three deliveries of the 33rd over to achieve the milestone.
Former Pakistan captain Akram, ex-Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, former Sri Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaas and New Zealand's Trent Boult have two hat-tricks to their name.
Chetan Sharma, Kapil Dev and Mohammed Shami are the other Indians to have claimed a hat-trick in international cricket.
Veteran Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga is the only bowler in the history of the game to take three hat-tricks, including two in World Cup.
Kuldeep achieved the feat in his eighth over with skipper Virat Kohli starting the proceedings with a stunning catch at deep mid-wicket, which sent opener Hope (78) back to the pavilion.
Holder was next in line as he was deceived in flight and Rishabh Pant whipped off the bails in time.
Alzarri then failed to pick up a wrong'un and was caught by Kedar Jadhav as his teammates celebrated.
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Pak cancels nearly 184 international flights to West Asia after Iran attack
Karachi (PTI): At least 184 international flights of different airlines from Pakistan to the West Asia have been cancelled since Saturday owing to the escalating situation after the US and Israel attacked Iran.
A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, Sharjah, Riyadh, Jeddah from Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Sialkot, Peshawar, Faisalabad had all been cancelled.
“The flights were on the schedule of different airlines,” Hafeez Khan said.
International flights in the West Asia have all been badly disrupted or suspended after the closure of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports which serve as a major hub for connecting flights to Europe, USA, Canada, South America etc.
Airline authorities have suspended all air traffic in the region because of the increase in missile and drone attacks by Iran on the US bases in the region.
The spokesperson said at least 40 flights were cancelled from Islamabad and another 46 from Lahore.
The Pakistan airspace remains open for domestic flights, he said.
The attack on Iran by the US and Israel disrupted flights across the West Asia and beyond as countries around the region closed their airspace and key airports that connect Europe, Africa and the West to Asia were directly hit by strikes.
