Pakistan’s young opener Abdullah Shafique endured a dismal run in the ODI series against South Africa, registering a record-breaking streak of ducks.
In the third and final match in Johannesburg, Shafique was dismissed for a duck on the second ball of the first over by Kagiso Rabada, making him the first opener in history to record zero runs in all matches of a single ODI series.
Shafique’s unfortunate streak places him alongside cricketing greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, who also registered three consecutive ducks in ODI cricket. Tendulkar set this record in 1994, while Ponting matched it in 2000.
The series had already been secured by Pakistan, but Shafique’s struggles stood out. In the first match, he was bowled by Marco Jansen, and in the second, he fell to the same bowler after facing just two deliveries.
Several other Pakistani players, including Salman Butt, Shoaib Mohammad, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Wasim, and Shadab Kabir, have suffered similar streaks in ODIs. However, Shafique now faces the prospect of worsening his record if he continues this form in the next series.
A shared record of five consecutive ducks in ODIs is held by players like England’s Craig White, West Indies’ Gus Logie, Zimbabwe’s Henry Olonga, and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga and Pramodya Wickramasinghe. Shafique could join this list if his dry spell continues.
