Rawalpindi: Pakistan’s premier batter Babar Azam has equalled an unwanted national record, joining Umar Akmal and Saim Ayub for the most ducks by a Pakistani batter in T20 Internationals.
Just a day after scoring a match-winning half-century in Pakistan’s dominant 69-run victory over Zimbabwe, Babar failed to deliver in the final league-stage match of the home T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka. The star batter was dismissed for a two-ball duck, marking the 10th duck of his T20I career.
Babar was undone by a sharp length delivery from Dushmantha Chameera, which straightened slightly off the pitch and stayed low, breaching the batter’s defence and rattling the stumps.
With this dismissal, Babar joins Saim Ayub and Umar Akmal, both of whom also have 10 ducks in T20Is — the most for Pakistan in men’s T20I cricket.
Former captain Shahid Afridi sits fourth on the list with eight ducks in 98 matches, followed by Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez, both with seven T20I ducks each.
Most Ducks for Pakistan in Men’s T20Is
Umar Akmal – 10 ducks in 84 matches
Saim Ayub – 10 ducks in 55* matches
Babar Azam – 10 ducks in 135* matches
Shahid Afridi – 8 ducks in 98 matches
Kamran Akmal – 7 ducks in 58 matches
Mohammad Hafeez – 7 ducks in 119 matches
Babar’s early dismissal contributed to a top-order collapse, with Pakistan stumbling to 43/4 in 5.2 overs while chasing a challenging 185-run target set by Sri Lanka.
