Team India opener Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a first-ball duck against Ireland in the second T20I match at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast on Sunday.
Published: June 29, 2026, 10:49 AM IST
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Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for first-ball duck vs Ireland in 2nd T20I. (Photo: IANS)
India vs Ireland 2026 2nd T20: Team India, winners of the T20 World Cup 2026, capped off a disastrous tour of Ireland, losing the second game by 1 run at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast on Sunday to be whitewashed 2-0 in the two-match series. There was more humiliation for world No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma, who created an unwanted record in the second T20 match.
Abhishek, who was dismissed for a first-ball duck by Ireland pacer Jai Moondra in the opening over of the second T20I, notched up his sixth duck in 2026 in this format of the game. Across all T20 cricket, Abhishek Sharma has nine ducks to his name this year.
With his ninth duck of the year in T20I cricket, Abhishek Sharma broke the record of his former Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate and Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan, who had 8 ducks in 2019 and 2022 seasons. Apart from Rashid Khan, Shadab Khan, Herschelle Gibbs, Sunil Narine, Alex Hales, Richard Ngarava, Sherfane Rutherford and Saim Ayub also had 8 ducks in a calendar year in T20 cricket.
WATCH Abhishek Sharma getting dismissed in 2nd T20I match HERE…
MOST DUCKS IN A CALENDAR YEAR IN T20 CRICKET
9 – Rashid Khan (2019)
9 – Shadab Khan (2024)
9 – Abhishek Sharma (2026)*Abhishek Sharma has now equalled the record of most ducks with some of the Legends.pic.twitter.com/q7kBsHXHab
— Hamza Khan (@Hamzakhan17_) June 29, 2026
Abhishek Sharma, the fastest Indian batter to complete 1000 runs in T20I cricket – a feat he achieved in the first game during his knock of 49 in 20 balls – had started off with a duck against New Zealand in Raipur earlier this year. He also had three back-to-back ducks in his maiden appearance at the T20 World Cup 2026 earlier this year, before scoring his first runs against South Africa in Ahmedabad.
He, however, managed to sign off on a high from the T20 World Cup 2026 while scoring 52 in 21 balls in the final against New Zealand which Indians managed to win to claim back-to-back titles.
The Indian opener’s six ducks are also the most-ever by any batter from his country in T20I cricket in a calendar year. He is now only one duck behind equally the world record held by Pakistan opener Saim Ayub, who managed seven ducks in 29 T20I games in 2025.
Shreyas Iyer admits ‘difficult’ start to his captaincy career
Meanwhile, new Team India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer now holds the blame for ending India’s remarkable run of 16 successive T20I series wins. Iyer, who replaced Suryakumar Yadav as the captain, admitted that it was a tough start as captain in the format.
“It’s still definitely not a great series, honestly speaking, but kudos to them, the way they played. Ireland team, I think they showed the professionalism and definitely had a tremendous idea about how the wicket was going to play and the field work there was phenomenal. So a comprehensive win to them and congratulations,” Iyer said after the loss on Sunday.
