3 Indian batters with most ducks in international cricket ft. Virat Kohli (min. 5000 runs)
There were huge cheers at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium when Virat Kohli walked out to bat in the third T20I between India and Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Kohli went to the crease after Yashasvi Jaiswal got out in the third over, bowled by Fareed Ahmad Malik. Facing the left-armer, Kohli got out of a short delivery that got big on him. In an attempt to pull it on the up, the former Indian captain met the ball quite late. The ball hit the shoulder of the blade before Ibrahim Zadran caught the ball to send Kohli on a golden duck.
The stadium experienced utter silence as their Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) maestro failed to make a mark in his familiar conditions. With his recent duck, Kohli earned himself the unwanted record of registering the most number of ducks by an Indian men's batter in international cricket.
While Zaheer Khan has the most (43) ducks for India, Kohli is now at the top of the list among specialist batters.
On that very note, let's take a look at the list of the top three Indian men's batters with the most number of international ducks to their names.
Note: Only batters with a minimum of 5,000 runs have been considered for the listicle.
#3 Rohit Sharma - 33 ducks
Rohit Sharma brought the roof down in the ongoing T20I against Afghanistan as he smoked a superb century. The Indian skipper made 121* and took India's total to 212.
Before the third T20I, Rohit endured an embarrassing series as he was dismissed for zero in both the previous two games. His two ducks took his overall tally to 33 ducks for India.
In T20Is, though, Rohit has 12 ducks to his name, which is the most by any Asian after Soumya Sarkar (11). Rohit has played 467 international games for India and has mustered 18,420 runs at an average of 43.34, including 100 fifties and 46 tons.
#2 Sachin Tendulkar - 34 ducks
If an individual plays 664 international cricket matches in his career, he is bound to bite the dust sometimes, even if his name is Sachin Tendulkar. The 'Master Blaster' has countless accolades to his name, and no batting record is complete without the legendary batter.
Tendulkar recorded 34 ducks in his international career after batting 782 times. This means Tendulkar registered a duck after every 23 innings, which is the best average among all the three batters on this list.
The Mumbai-born maestro's career spanned 24 years, where he accumulated 34,357 international runs—the most by anyone in the history of the sport. He even has the most number of fifties (164) and centuries (100) to his name.
#1 Virat Kohli - 35 ducks
Virat Kohli earned himself the undesired record when he registered his 35th international duck against Afghanistan.
A brand ambassador of consistency, Kohli is arguably the best batter of his generation. The run-machine has racked up a bucketload of runs ever since his debut in 2008.
However, on Wednesday, he failed to make any contribution and received his maiden golden duck in T20Is. It was Kohli's fifth duck in the format, three of which came against left-arm seamers. This time it was Fareed Ahmad Malik, who bowled an inspired spell of 3/20.
As far as his batting record is concerned, Kohli has played 580 innings so far and has amassed 26,733 runs, including 139 half-centuries and 80 international hundreds. His batting average of 54.11 is the all-time best for any Indian batter with at least 500 runs.