That day, the ball was doing exactly what I wanted it to: Irfan Pathan

I am really glad that Jasprit Bumrah has joined us in the hat-trick club. There is nothing better than someone like Bumrah achieving this feat. He is a very special bowler and deserves to enjoy the spotlight.

As far as memories of my hat-trick are concerned, it will be in my top-3 moments as an India cricketer for sure. I remember we had flat pitches in the two Test matches before my hat-trick in Karachi. All the bowlers, including Shoaib Akhtar^[2], were getting hammered. So when we turned up in Karachi, it was a coldish morning and we were going to bowl first. I wanted to prove a point to myself. I had done well with the bat in the first two Tests and even saved a follow-on in the second Test with a score of 90. But I wanted to step up with the ball in Karachi.

As soon as I bowled my first ball that morning, I knew that the ball was coming out perfectly. When I got the wicket of Salman Butt off the fourth ball, it felt like the ball was doing exactly what I wanted it to do. It was most important to get Younis Khan out. He was in tremendous form.
The next wicket was Mohammad Yousuf. He was a great player for Pakistan, but I enjoyed bowling against him. The ball had so much curve, and he had no answer to it. I remember how Yuvraj took me on his shoulders and everyone was so happy to see me back to getting early wickets.
Irfan Pathan^[5] vs Pakistan, 29 January, 2006, Karachi; Victims: Salman Butt (c Rahul Dravid^[6]), Younis Khan (lbw), Mohammad Yousuf (b)
(As told to Vivek Krishnan)
^[1][3][4]

References

1. ^{^} Jasprit Bumrah (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} Shoaib Akhtar (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} Salman Butt (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} Younis Khan (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
5. ^{^} Irfan Pathan (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
6. ^{^} Rahul Dravid (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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