Ranji Trophy: TN's Gurjapneet Singh claims hat-trick against Nagaland
What's the story
In a stunning display of bowling prowess, Tamil Nadu pacer Gurjapneet Singh bagged a hat-trick against Nagaland in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2025-26. The left-arm pacer achieved this feat during the second-round match in Bengaluru on Sunday. He rattled the team's top batters in quick succession to complete his hat-trick, becoming the third bowler to do so this round.
Spell
A stellar opening spell from Gurjapneet
Responding to TN's massive first innings total of 512/3, Nagaland were off to a forgettable start thanks to Gurjapneet's hat-trick. The fast bowler trapped Sedezhalie Rupero, Hem Chetri, and skipper Rongsen Jonathan in the last three balls of the sixth over. Chetan Bist also fell to him later on as the batting team was reduced to 31/4. All the first four fallen wickets went to Gurjapneet's credit.
Historical significance
Gurjapneet joins these players
Gurjapneet's hat-trick is particularly significant as he is the first Tamil Nadu player to achieve this feat since M Mohammed did it against Madhya Pradesh in Dindigul back in 2018. The left-arm pacer joins Services players Arjun Sharma and Mohit Jangra, who had also taken a hat-trick against Assam at Tinsukia District Sports Association Ground on Saturday.
Stats
Here are his FC stats
With this spell, Gurjapneet has raced past 30 wickets from eight First-Class games at an average of 21-plus. This is the fifth occasion of the pacer claiming at least four wickets in a FC innings, as per ESPNcricinfo. He claimed a four-wicket haul (4/71) in TN's season opener against Jharkhand as well.