Shahbaz Nadeem plans to keep the record-breaking ball in an exalted place in his drawing room.
“This ball will be very special to me. I lived a dream with it,” the Jharkhand left-arm spinner told The Hindu .
Best-ever figures
He had, with this sphere, recorded the best-ever figures in List A (ODI and domestic one-day cricket) with a mind-boggling spell of 10-4-10-8 for Jharkhand against Rajasthan in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Thursday.
In the process, he had bettered the eight for 15 by another left-arm spinner, Rahul Sanghvi, for Delhi versus Himachal Pradesh in 1997-98. And the top five names in the list include the great West Indian quick Michael Holding and the crafty Sri Lankan seamer Chaminda Vaas.
Nadeem’s hat-trick victims were Mahipal Lormor, Chetan Bist and Tajinder Singh, the fourth, fifth and sixth wickets of a Rajasthan innings that concluded at a paltry 73.
Nadeem revealed, “I enjoyed the delivery that got Lormor the most.
“The ball pitched on middle and leg and turned to hit the off-stump.”
In fact, Nadeem sliced through the Rajasthan line-up to pick the first eight wickets. “At that time, the thought of claiming all 10 wickets crossed my mind. It did not happen but I am still very happy.
“The pitch at the Murugappa ground offered turn if you bowled at the right pace and in the right areas,” said Nadeem, who comprehends the tracks here well having turned out for Nelson in the TNCA first division league.
Nadeem, a regular in the India-A sides, has excelled in domestic cricket (he has 375 First Class and 124 List A scalps) and been knocking on the India door. “I will remember this day in Chennai. Things went my way. The performance will lift me,” he said.
