In a surprising turn of events, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batsman Abhishek Sharma has set an unwanted record by surpassing Rohit Sharma for the highest number of ducks by an Indian player in a single calendar year. This occurred during the IPL 2026 match against Rajasthan Royals (RR), marking his seventh duck of the year.

Sharma's inconsistent performance in IPL 2026 and T20 matches continued as he faced a golden duck against RR. Attempting to hit a short ball from Jofra Archer, he was caught by Ravi Bishnoi. This incident brought his total to seven ducks in just 18 innings this year, eclipsing Rohit Sharma's previous record of six ducks in 32 innings in 2018, as well as Sanju Samson's six ducks in 32 innings in 2024. In the current IPL season, he has accumulated 129 runs over five innings, averaging 25.80 with a strike rate of 215.80, including one half-century, with his highest score being 74.

A Year of Mixed Performances

Prior to this, Sharma had a disappointing debut at the T20 World Cup, failing to meet the high expectations set after a stellar 2025 season. He managed only 141 runs in eight innings, averaging 17.62 with a strike rate of 158.42, which included two fifties, one of which was scored in the final against New Zealand during a victorious match. In 18 T20 matches this year, he has scored 452 runs at an average of 26.58 and a strike rate of 203.60, featuring five fifties and seven ducks, with a top score of 84.

Match Overview: SRH vs RR

In the match itself, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to field first.

Playing XIs

Teams: Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga.

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande.