Most Ducks In International Cricket In 2024

Bhargav Dixit

Abdullah Shafique returns to the pavilion. [Source: @div_yumm/X]Abdullah Shafique returns to the pavilion. [Source: @div_yumm/X]

While only time will tell if the ongoing third South Africa-Pakistan Johannesburg ODI will get to an outright result or not, its brief 19-ball existence before the first rain break made Abdullah Shafique the sixth Pakistani batter after Shoaib Mohammad (1993), Shadab Kabir (1996), Mohammad Wasim (2000), Shoaib Malik (2004) and Salman Butt (2010) to register three consecutive ducks in ODIs.

Overall, the right-handed batter, who now has four scores of 1 or less in his last six ODI innings, has become only the second batter in history after India’s Suryakumar Yadav to register three ducks in a three-match bilateral ODI series.

Speaking of India, Shafique has also joined Indian spearhead Jasprit Bumrah at the second spot in the list of most ducks in international cricket in 2024. Below are the names of three batters who have scored most ducks across the three formats of international cricket this year:

Jasprit Bumrah (7)

Apart from his heroics with the ball during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Bumrah was also in the news of late for defending his batting ability. However, there is no hiding to the fact that getting off the mark has been a task for the 31-year-old player in the last 12 months.

In spite of his involvement in not only saving the follow-on but also the recently concluded Brisbane Test against Australia, all Bumrah has managed with the bat in hand this year are 97 runs at an average of 7.46. Bumrah, whose six Test ducks in 2024 are the highest among all teams, had registered one during the T20 World Cup against Pakistan as well.

Abdullah Shafique (7)

Shafique’s ill-famed feat means that he has been dismissed without scoring for the seventh time across 21 innings this year. Overall, he has secured 14 ducks across 69 innings for his nation and is one of the four batters to have four successive T20I ducks under their belt.

Used to average 40.22 at the highest level till 2023, Shafique’s 370 runs for Pakistan in 2024 have come at an average of 20.55.

In what has been a forgettable year for the right-handed batter, his three ODI ducks are the joint-highest among players from Test playing nations. Furthermore, no other opening batter from Test playing nations has more than five ducks across formats this year.

Blessing Muzarabani (9)

Zimbabwe fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani is one of the four players to get out without scoring three times in a row in ODIs more than twice.

For players with six or more international ducks to their name this year, Muzarabani’s average of 2.46 is the lowest among Test playing nations. In addition to a lone Test duck, the 28-year-old player also had similar outings in ODIs and T20Is four and five times in 2024.

NOTE: Mongolia’s Luwsanzundui Erdenebulgan, UAE’s Junaid Siddique, Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava, New Zealand’s Will O’Rourke, Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai, Nepal’s Kushal Bhurtel and Bangladesh’s Litton Das have all got out for ducks six times in 2024.