In cricket, scoring the first run can be very hard. It’s an important mental milestone for any batter. The pressure is even greater in a T20 World Cup match because every run is crucial for the team.
Sadly, some batters don’t score any runs and end their turn with a duck, which can hurt their team’s chances.
we look at five batters in T20 World Cup history (2007-2024) who have the most ducks.
5. Andre Russell – 4 ducks
West Indies cricket star Andre Russell has scored zero runs (a duck) four times in 24 matches across five different T20 World Cup tournaments from 2012 to 2024. His batting average at these big events is a low 16.85, and his strike rate of 147.50 is lower than his usual T20 International rate of nearly 164.
Despite his poor batting statistics, Andre Russell often performs well in important knockout games for West Indies. He has helped his team win the World Cup twice, in 2012 and 2016.
4. Johnson Charles – 4 ducks
West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Johnson Charles played in the 2012 and 2016 T20 World Cup winning teams. Unfortunately, he has a record of getting out without scoring (a duck) four times in his 21 tournament games. In the 2024 T20 World Cup, he got out for a duck against Papua New Guinea and New Zealand in matches at Providence and Tarouba. Throughout his T20 World Cup career, Charles has scored only 456 runs in 20 innings, with a low strike rate of 113.71 and an average of 22.80.
3. Soumya Sarkar – 4 ducks
Bangladeshi cricketer Soumya Sarkar has a record in T20 International (T20I) cricket that he probably doesn’t like. He has been out without scoring (a “duck”) 13 times in 83 innings. Four of these ducks happened in just 16 T20 World Cup matches. In a game against Sri Lanka during the Group D match of the 2024 T20 World Cup in Dallas, he also got out without scoring.
Sarkar’s batting average in T20 World Cup games is 9.43, and his strike rate is 98.69. Both of these numbers are much lower than his overall international performance.
2. Tillakaratne Dilshan – 5 ducks
Tillakaratne Dilshan was part of Sri Lanka’s team that won the 2014 T20 World Cup. He was also the top run-scorer in 2009. In his 34 innings, he got out without scoring (ducks) five times. Despite these failures, he has scored a total of 897 runs, with an average of nearly 31 and a strike rate of 124.06.
Dilshan holds the joint record for the most ducks in T20 World Cups. In all of his T20 international matches for Sri Lanka, he has had 10 scoreless innings.
1. Shahid Afridi – 5 ducks
Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi is a cricket legend. He has scored five of his eight T20I ducks during T20 World Cups. One unforgettable moment is his first-ball duck against India in the 2007 T20 World Cup final.
Even though his batting average was low, just 18.82 in 32 T20 World Cup innings, Afridi was very important in Pakistan’s 2009 title win. He was also named ‘Player of the Tournament’ in 2007.
READ MORE:
- Here are DK’s top 5 innings in his T20 career
- Let’s look at Rohit Sharma’s top five T20I performances.
