Uttarakhand medium pacer Deepak Dhapola bagged hat-tricks against Delhi and Puducherry in consecutive Ranji Trophy 2024 matches. The 33-year-old has reportedly received praise and advice from Virat Kohli in the past
Deepak Dhapola is in the form of his life right now. The Uttarakhand seamer has picked up hat-tricks in back-to-back Ranji Trophy 2024 matches to take the tournament by storm, and make coaches and selectors sit up and take notice. (Ranji Trophy Streaming | More Cricket News)
His most recent feat came on Day 2 of the Delhi vs Uttarakhand match. Taking the new ball in the second innings, Dhapola snared Arpit Rana off the sixth ball of the first over, and then returned to dismiss young Yash Dhull and Kshitiz Sharma in the third over to claim the hat-trick. The fact that he picked up three of the top four Delhi batters makes his achievement even more special.
In Uttarakhand's previous match too, Dhapola had caught many an eye with his fiery hat-trick against Puducherry. In the 37th over of the latter's second innings, Dhapola had scalped the wickets of Fabid Ahmed, Krishna Pandey and Sagar Udeshi off successive deliveries. The 33-year-old right-arm pacer ended the innings with a six-wicket haul.
Dhapola has received training from Virat Kohli's coach Rajkumar Sharma, according to a Navbharat Times report. Kohli too had praised the medium-fast bowler, and told him to keep working hard for good results, as per the report.
From learning from Delhi stalwarts to wreaking havoc against the Delhi Ranji team, Dhapola sure has come a long way. Powered by his hat-trick, Uttarakhand had Delhi reeling at 145/5 at stumps on the second day of their Ranji Trophy 2024 Elite Group D clash in Mohali.