Abhishek Sharma has found himself in unwanted company after being dismissed without scoring in his first two appearances at the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026. The left-hander fell for a four-ball duck against Pakistan on Sunday, dismissed by Salman Ali Agha, having earlier departed for a first-ball duck in his tournament opener. The back-to-back failures place him in a rare statistical category in T20 World Cup history.
Rare Record In First Two Matches
Abhishek has now become only the third batter in men’s T20 World Cup history to register ducks in his first two matches of the tournament. Before him, India’s Ashish Nehra and Bangladesh’s Imrul Kayes endured similar starts to their respective campaigns.
Notably, both Nehra and Kayes failed to score a single run across their T20 World Cup appearances. As things stand, Abhishek is yet to open his account in the current edition, placing him alongside those names in an unenviable record list.
Struggles Continue
Abhishek’s first outing in this tournament came against the United States, where he was dismissed off the very first delivery he faced. He then missed the match against Namibia due to illness. Making his return against Pakistan, he was again unable to make an impact, falling for nought after facing four balls.
The contrast is particularly striking given his earlier record against Pakistan. In his first two T20 innings against them, Abhishek had scored 105 runs at an impressive average of 52.50. However, across four innings now, his tally against Pakistan stands at 110 runs, with his average dropping to 27.5.
More broadly, his recent form has been under scrutiny. In his last five T20 innings, Abhishek has managed just 98 runs and has been dismissed for a duck on three occasions, raising concerns about consistency at a crucial stage of the tournament.
