Afghanistan’s opening batsman, Rahmanullah Gurbaaz, was dismissed without scoring in the against India at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
This unfortunate outcome marks his 11th duck as an opener in T20 international cricket, placing him second on the list of players with the most ducks in this format among full member nations.
Gurbaaz fell victim to Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah on just the second ball of the match, with taking the catch. Paul Stirling leads this unwanted list with 14 ducks, while Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock are tied for third with 10 each. Tilakaratne Dilshan and Soumya Sarkar follow in fourth place with nine, and Pathum Nissanka rounds out the top five with eight.
Winning the toss, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer opted to bowl first. Notably, 15-year-old opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi was not included in the playing XI. Under Iyer’s captaincy, India previously lost the T20 series 0-2 against Ireland and suffered a 0-4 defeat in England. However, they managed a clean sweep against Zimbabwe, winning 3-0. This series marks Iyer’s series on home soil, presenting a great opportunity for a clean sweep.
Iyer led a strong Indian squad featuring Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Varun Chakravarthy.
Afghanistan’s lineup included Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaaz (wicketkeeper), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, and Fazalhaq Farooqi.
The remaining matches of the T20 series between India and Afghanistan are scheduled for September 15 and 17, also at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Gurbaaz Falls for a Duck as India Faces Afghanistan in T20 Series Opener