These 5 players have shared 23 ducks in Test cricket in 2024
Tail-enders are not necessarily tasked with scoring a lot of runs down the order. Occasionally, they get it right. But a lot of the time, they get it wrong.
Ducks among top-order batters are, for the most part, inexcusable, especially if the delivery to get them out was not particularly that good.
Among those who bat numbers nine, 10 and 11, though, a duck or a low score is often more of a probability than a possibility. Read on for more about those with the most ducks in Test cricket in 2024.
Mark Wood – 5 ducks
England‘s Wood isn’t actually that bad a batter. He averages more than 15 in Test cricket and has hit a half-century in this format. But 2024 has not been good to him down the order.
He has collected five ducks. Two of them came in a row in England’s recent series against the West Indies. Wood blows hot and cold. Sometimes, you can see that he is really applying himself with the bat. Other times, it’s obvious that he is out in the middle for a quick hack and that he doesn’t necessarily value his wicket has much as he should.
Jasprit Bumrah – 5 ducks
Bumrah, like Wood, has gathered five Test match ducks in 2024. Two of these also came consecutively in India‘s recent series defeat to New Zealand’s. Bumrah’s shot selection and stroke play can be quite inventive, if not that successful.
He has a highest Test score of 34 not out – that was achieved against a strong England bowling attack. And he has managed to nail five sixes in the longest format. So there is something to go on there, but it’s not often witnessed enough.
Shoaib Bashir – 5 ducks
Bashir is very new to international cricket and is certainly considered among the rank tail-enders. He, too, has five Test ducks this year. At just 21 years old, he has a bright future with him – with the ball, that is, not the bat.
Read more: How Ajaz Patel ranks among Ian Botham and Shane Warne
Keshav Maharaj – 4 ducks
Maharaj has managed four ducks in six Test innings this year. Talk about being on the wrong side of a weird conversion rate.
Many South Africa fans feel Maharaj, like Kagiso Rabada, could offer more with the bat and perhaps be considered burgeoning all-rounders. For now, this is evidently not the case.
Lahiru Kumara
With a duck every two Test innings, Kumara has four in eight this year. Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique also has four Test match ducks in 2024.
Read next: Who are the leading run-scorers among active Test cricketers?