T20 internationals have become the most popular form of cricket globally. Even the smaller nations are trying their luck in this format. The reason behind the T20I craze in the world is the short duration and the competitiveness in this format. T20I matches generally last for three-four hours.
There are only 40 overs in a match. This thing allows both teams to have an equal chance. The possibility of an upset in T20Is is more than ODIs and Tests. Countries like the Netherlands have defeated world champions England in this competition, while the Afghanistan cricket team beat West Indies in the 2016 T20 World Cup.
The players are under immense pressure in T20Is. With the bat, they need to smack the ball hard from the word go. In that mindset, they even lose their wickets without scoring a run. But here are the five players with the most consecutive innings without a score of zero.
5. Shoaib Malik – 65 innings
Shoaib Malik is a veteran all-rounder, playing cricket for Pakistan. He has played T20 international cricket for the Pakistan team from 2006 to 2020. So far, he has recorded only one duck in his T20I career.
Malik has batted in 106 T20I innings. Currently, he is on a streak of 65 T20I innings without a score of zero. Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins is the only man to get Shoaib Malik out for a duck in a T20I game.
4. Marlon Samuels – 65 innings
Another veteran all-rounder to feature on this list is West Indies’ Marlon Samuels. The former T20 World Cup champion played his first T20 international for the Men in Maroon back in 2007 against England.
To date, Samuels has played 65 innings for his country without a single duck. He has aggregated 1,611 T20I runs at an average of 29.29. Samuels has also taken 22 wickets for West Indies in the game’s shortest format.
3. Martin Guptill – 67 innings
Martin Guptill opens the innings for New Zealand in T20I cricket. The right-handed batsman has attacking gameplay, and he often goes after the bowlers in the powerplays. It is pertinent to note Guptill had got out for a duck on his T20I debut.
In 2010, Abdul Razzaq sent him back to the pavilion before scoring a single run. Guptill has two T20I ducks to his name. However, since that game, he has always opened his account. In these ten years, Guptill has batted in 67 innings.
2. David Miller – 68 innings
South African middle-order batsman David Miller is one of the best T20 players on the planet. Miller has played multiple game-changing knocks for his team.
The highlight of his T20I career is that no bowler has been able to dismiss him for zero. Miller has batted in 68 T20I innings for the rainbow nation without registering a single duck in T20Is to date
1. MS Dhoni – 84 innings
Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni holds the world record for the most consecutive innings in T20I cricket without a single duck. Very few fans would know that Dhoni got out for a duck in his career’s first T20I match.
Charles Langeveldt dismissed him for the score of zero. However, in the next 84 T20I innings of his career, Dhoni never returned to the pavilion without scoring a single run.
