Abhishek Sharma joins unwanted list after registering third duck in T20 WC

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], February 18 (ANI): Indian opener and World No 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma registered an unwanted record after he was dismissed for a three-ball duck during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Group A match against the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday.
Netherlands spinner Aryan Dutt struck early, cleaning up Sharma in the opening over. This was Sharma's third consecutive duck in the ongoing tournament after registering ducks against the USA and Pakistan in India's earlier group A matches.
The left-handed batter is yet to open his account in the T20 World Cup.
With the latest dismissal, Sharma has registered five ducks in T20Is in 2026, putting him with some of the openers scoring the most ducks in a single calendar year in the shortest format.
The unwanted list includes Pakistan's Saim Ayub, who registered six ducks in 2025.
Sharma, who has now five ducks as an opener, has the second-most alongside Chaloemwong Chatphaisan (Thailand, 2024), Kushal Bhurtel (Nepal, 2024), Dharma Kesuma (Indonesia, 2025) and Parvez Hossain Emon (Bangladesh, 2025) -- all with five ducks apiece.
Coming to the match, India's crisis man Shivam Dube delivered yet again with a majestic half-century, which helped his side to reach 193/6 against the Netherlands in their last group stage fixture of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Wednesday in Ahmedabad.
Dube slammed his maiden fifty in the T20 WC in just 25 balls. Dube smashed 66 runs off 31 balls, including 4 fours and 6 sixes. Dube, along with Hardik Pandya, stitched a brilliant partnership of 76 for the fifth wicket.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bat. Abhishek Sharma's nightmare continues with three matches, three ducks in the. After two straight zeroes, he looked jittery and tried to swing his way back into form, but Dutch off-spinner Aryan Dutt's delivery slipped past his bat and rattled the stumps.
Dutt troubled the Indian batters early on and also dismissed Ishan Kishan (18) as the ball trickled onto the stumps--India finish powerplay at 51/2.
Roelof van der Merwe, 41, pulled off a stunning, diving catch at long-off to end the budding partnership between Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma (31). India is 74/3 after 10 overs.
After a quiet few overs, India launched into the attack in the 12th over, with Yadav picking up a six on the leg side. Shivam Dube then got into the act, hitting two sixes and a four, as India amassed 19 runs in the 13th over.
Despite Yadav departing for 34, Dube carried on in the same vein, muscling the ball all around the park. India took the driving seat in the final five overs as it added 75 runs to take their total past 190.
For the Netherlands, Logan van Beek (3/56), Aryan Dutt (2/19) and Kyle Klein (1/38) were among the wickets. (ANI)