S Thawfeeq: Jalaludin: The First ODI Hat-Trick Man (01 Jan 1996)

Jalal-ud-din: The First Hat-Trick Man

By sa`adi Thawfeeq

When Jalal-ud-din dismissed Australians Rod Marsh (bowled), Bruce Yardley (caught behind) and Geoff Lawson (bowled) in successive balls, he was totally unaware that he had performed the first hat-trick in one-day internationals.

"It was a long time ago in 1982-3 that I performed this feat against Australia at Hyderabad. I did not know at the time that it was some kind of a record,`` recalled the former Pakistani right-arm fast-medium bowler during his recent visit to Sri Lanka with the Karachi Airport Gymkhana CC.

"When I got the hat-trick, it was a great feeling for me and my team. Before performing that feat I got the wicket of Allan Border to finish with my best figures in one-day cricket of 4 for 32,`` said Jalal-ud-din, who performed the unique feat in only his second one-day international.

Jalal-ud-din made his one-day international debut against Sri Lanka at Karachi in 1981-2 and six months later was in the limelight with his heady performance with the ball.

Australia were on course for victory at 157 for 3 chasing Pakistan`s total of 229 for 6 in 40 overs. But Jalal-ud-din`s fantastic spell saw them collapse to 170 all out - losing the last seven wickets for a mere 13 runs.

It was not only in one-day cricket that Jalal-ud-din performed the hat-trick. He seemed to have a knack of doing it even in other standards of the game as well.

Jalal-ud-din almost repeated the performance in a Test in the same series. Making his debut against Australia at Lahore, he dismissed Yardley and Jeff Thomson off successive deliveries, but was denied the hat-trick by Lawson, who blocked the next ball.

Jalal-ud-din also took a hat-trick for Allied Bank v Karachi CA in a first-class match and performed it in English league cricket as well.

"A hat-trick is something you cannot create. It has to happen by itself. You have to bowl a good line and length and it sometimes happens. Nobody can say `you are going to get a hat-trick`. It could be luck, because you need to get three wickets in three consecutive balls,`` said Jalal-ud-din.

The bespectacled speedster`s natural ball was the outswinger. When the ball got old, he bowled inswingers.

Jalal-ud-din who is only 36-years of age, appeared in six Tests and eight one-day internationals for Pakistan at different intervals of times between 1982 and 1986. He took 11 Test wickets at 48.81 runs apiece with a career best of 3 for 77 against Australia on his Test debut. In one-day internationals, he had 14 wickets (avg. 15.78) and was quite economical going at only 4.3 runs an over.

In 1981-2, he had an outstanding season and was called up as a replacement for Pakistan on their tour of England in 1982. Jalal-ud-din`s career best effort was taking a match bag of 11 wickets for 129 runs for HBFC in the Pakistan`s premier firstclass tournament for the Qaid-e-Azam trophy.

Since finishing off his first-class career, Jalal-ud-din became a selector of the Karachi CA, but continued to play for his department in the Pakistan Customs team - being captain for three years since 1988 and presently, its manager.

"This season we have qualified to play in the grade one national championships by beating Pakistan Steel in the grade two final,`` said Jalal-ud-din proudly.

Having watched Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the Test and One-day international series recently, Jalal-ud-din commented: "The Sri Lankans are currently playing very well. They are playing with a lot of spirit which is the most important thing. If any team has the spirit, it can win. It is the best requirement to win a match, the spirit``.

"Sri Lanka have improved a lot since I last played against them. All the time they had good batsmen, but now they have good bowlers as well. They have a very balanced team. The most important thing is that Sri Lanka are winning. I hope they will do well in the future as well,`` said Jalal-ud-din.

Turning his attention to the plight of his own country, Jalalud-din said: "The Pakistan side was not well combined because there were some rifts within the team and the Pakistan Cricket Board. Some of our key players like Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed could not play. Mushtaq Ahmed was unfit at the time``.

"Now they are improving because these things have been removed from the team. The players have put behind their differences and are playing together as a team. I feel they will perform better during the World Cup,`` he said.

"Wasim Akram has matured as a captain. He is a bowler of world class and as captain, he is improving. He is not the same Akram that captained Pakistan some time ago. He has accepted the weaknesses he had the last time he led the country,`` said Jalal-ud-din. Source:: Lake House/Lanka Internet Services