UAE leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan made history on Wednesday as he became only the fifth bowler in the history of all T20 World Cups to take a hat-trick. He achieved this feat in UAE’s preliminary qualifying round game at the Simonds Stadium, Geelong, against Asia Cup 2022 champions, Sri Lanka.
It has been very interesting to learn for the fans that Karthik Meiyappan was part of two IPL franchises – Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings – previously as a net bowler.
Yes, 22-year-old Karthik Meiyappan, who was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, before moving to the UAE, was a net bowler for RCB in IPL 2020, which was played in the UAE, and then was a net bowler for CSK in the second half of the IPL 2021, which was also played in the UAE.
Robin Uthappa’s tweet for CSK net bowler Karthik Meiyappan has gone viral
Former Chennai Super Kings batsman Robin Uthappa would have faced Karthik Meiyappan in the nets during this time with CSK last year, and Uthappa was clearly elated for the young leg-spinner taking a T20 World Cup hat-trick.
Uthappa, who is now retired from the IPL, took to Twitter to hail Meiyappan for his brilliant hat trick.
“Hat trick from UAE’s Karthik Meiyappan 😍 Terrific display of bowling from him. UAE making a great comeback in the game. #SLvUAE #T20WorldCup2022,” the veteran former CSK batsman tweeted.
Hat trick from UAE’s Karthik Meiyappan 😍 Terrific display of bowling from him. UAE making a great comeback in the game. #SLvUAE #T20WorldCup2022
— Robin Aiyuda Uthappa (@robbieuthappa) October 18, 2022
Meiyappan’s hat trick comprised wickets of Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka. Left-hander Rajapaksa and skipper Shanaka are Sri Lanka’s two of the best and in-form,batters, and dismissing them gave UAE a big opening back into the game which seemed to have been slipping when Sri Lanka were 114/2 after 14 overs. Courtesy of Meiyappan’s brilliant grip on the Sri Lankan batters, they slipped from 117/2 to 120/6/
