Ducks are the harshest reminder of cricket’s unforgiving nature, and in T20 internationals, they often decide the course of an innings.
MD Shanaka from Sri Lanka and K Irakoze from Rwanda top this list at 14 ducks and 13 ducks consecutively.
While most players pick up the odd duck across long careers, this group of top 10 players has faced this difficulty enough times to be remembered for that.
Let’s look at each of them with their stats and a little more reading on each of them.
Top 10 Players With Most Ducks In T20Is
Interestingly, four of the top ten duck collectors come from Rwanda, reflecting how newer cricketing nations face steep learning curves against stronger international bowling attacks.
| No. | Player | Country | Ducks | Matches | Span | Runs | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MD Shanaka | Sri Lanka | 14 | 114 | 2015-2025 | 1312 | 20.54 |
| 2 | K Irakoze | Rwanda | 13 | 75 | 2021-2024 | 450 | 10.17 |
| 3 | Z Bimenyimana | Rwanda | 13 | 91 | 2021-2025 | 256 | 8.17 |
| 4 | M Akayezu | Rwanda | 13 | 95 | 2021-2025 | 547 | 8.42 |
| 5 | Soumya Sarkar | Bangladesh | 13 | 87 | 2015-2024 | 1197 | 17.82 |
| 6 | PR Stirling | Ireland | 13 | 153 | 2009-2025 | 2751 | 26.69 |
| 7 | C Chatphaisan | Thailand | 12 | 47 | 2022-2025 | 600 | 14.30 |
| 8 | KJ O’Brien | Ireland | 12 | 110 | 2008-2021 | 1507 | 21.21 |
| 9 | RG Sharma | India | 12 | 159 | 2007-2024 | 3003 | 32.05 |
| 10 | DK Anefie | Ghana | 11 | 36 | 2019-2023 | 227 | 10.69 |
These numbers show how both established stars and associate cricketers found themselves trapped by the game’s most ruthless statistic. Let’s read a little more about each player down below.
1. MD Shanaka: 14 Ducks
Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka now owns the unwanted record of 14 ducks in T20Is. His most recent came in the Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, when Hussain Talat trapped him for a golden duck that sealed his top spot.
Shanaka’s ducks are spread across his career from his debut in 2015 to 2025, often arriving when he came in late chasing quick runs.
Despite match-winning innings against India and Australia earlier in his career, his risk-heavy finishing role made him vulnerable.
His dismissals for zero have included first-ball failures in powerplay chaos and late collapses alike, underlining the volatility of T20 batting.
2. K Irakoze: 13 Ducks
Rwanda’s Kevin Irakoze has quietly become one of the most frequent victims of ducks in international cricket. Playing 75 T20Is since 2021, he has 13 consecutive matches without a loss, mostly accumulated in African qualifiers and regional tournaments.
Irakoze, an off-spinning allrounder, often bats lower in the order, facing tough scenarios with few balls left. His ducks have included golden ones against Kenya and Uganda, where pace and swing undid him early.
With a batting average just above ten, he rarely gets long stays, and the numbers reflect both his team’s struggles against stronger attacks and his risky attempts to accelerate at the death.
3. Z Bimenyimana: 13 Ducks
Zappy Bimenyimana is another Rwandan player who finds himself tied near the top of the global duck charts. Across 91 T20Is, he has been dismissed without scoring 13 times.
Bimenyimana’s role is mainly as a bowler, but his batting position exposes him to late-innings pressure.
He has fallen to golden ducks in back-to-back African qualifier matches, including dismissals by Kenya’s Elijah Otieno and Namibia’s Ruben Trumpelmann, both exploiting his limited technique.
His highest score in T20Is is only 30, and that lack of consistent batting returns explains why ducks pile up. His case highlights how associate teams often field bowlers in batting roles against full-strength opponents, producing these numbers.
4. M Akayezu: 13 Ducks
Martin Akayezu, another Rwandan mainstay, matches his teammates with 13 ducks in T20Is. Since his 95 appearances since 2021, he has often been called upon in times of crisis.
Akayezu, primarily a medium-pacer, has struggled when forced into batting rescue jobs. He collected a string of ducks in the 2022 regional qualifiers, falling first ball to Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava and twice to Kenyan seamers exploiting his uncertain footwork.
Though his tally of more than 30 wickets shows his primary role is with the ball, Akayezu’s batting record reads as a story of regular collapses.
His dismissals underline the structural challenges of associate cricket, where bowlers bat high out of necessity.
5. Soumya Sarkar: 13 Ducks
Unlike the Rwandan trio, Soumya Sarkar’s ducks carry more weight in public memory because of his role at the top for Bangladesh.
Across 87 T20Is from 2015 to 2024, he has been dismissed for zero on 13 occasions.
Soumya has registered ducks in ICC tournaments, including one against Australia in the 2021 T20 World Cup, when Mitchell Starc’s inswinging yorker uprooted his stumps on the first ball.
In the 2016 Asia Cup, he fell for a duck against India, undone by Jasprit Bumrah’s pace. Soumya’s aggressive approach explains both his occasional match-winning 50s and his zeros.
His duck record has become a recurring discussion in Bangladesh cricket circles.
6. PR Stirling: 13 Ducks
Paul Stirling’s reputation as Ireland’s attacking opener has brought both runs and a high number of ducks, 13 in 153 T20Is.
Stirling often takes the aerial route in power plays, and several of his ducks have come against world-class bowlers exploiting the new ball. He was bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 2022 T20 World Cup and dismissed without scoring by Trent Boult in 2021.
His dismissals underline the fine margins of powerplay aggression: one edge carries for a duck, while another flies to the stands. Despite this, Stirling remains Ireland’s highest T20I run-scorer, showing the trade-off inherent in his role.
7. C Chatphaisan: 12 Ducks
Thailand’s Chaloemwong Chatphaisan has quickly and unusually made his mark, collecting 12 ducks in just 47 T20Is.
He once endured three consecutive ducks in 2023, a stretch that highlighted his vulnerability at the top. His golden ducks include dismissals by Malaysian seamer Fitri Sham and Singapore’s Janak Prakash.
As a right-handed top-order bat, his role is to attack early, but against quality pace in regional qualifiers, that strategy has backfired.
His averages suggest flashes of promise, yet his frequent ducks have become a talking point for Thailand’s rising cricket program, balancing ambition with the harsh realities of international exposure.
8. KJ O’Brien: 12 Ducks
Kevin O’Brien, Ireland’s big-hitting allrounder, closed his T20I career with 12 ducks across 110 matches.
Famous for the fastest World Cup hundred in ODIs, O’Brien often walked out looking to clear the ropes from ball one, and that approach led to several early dismissals.
He fell for a duck to Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir in the 2009 T20 World Cup and suffered another first-ball exit to England’s Chris Jordan in 2015.
While his reputation rests on explosive knocks for Ireland and in leagues, his duck tally highlights the risk-reward style he embraced. His name regularly features in discussions of Irish cricket’s boom-bust batting stories.
9. RG Sharma: 12 Ducks
Rohit Sharma, India’s most experienced campaigner in T20 internationals, has been dismissed for zero on 12 occasions in 159 games.
Opening the innings, he has often looked to seize control of the powerplay, a strategy that sometimes backfires.
One remembers Lasith Malinga removing him cheaply in the 2014 World T20, and years later, Shaheen Afridi’s searing inswinger did the same in the 2021 edition.
Rohit is one of the most dependable players on the Indian Cricket Team, and rare failures like this are therefore highlighted. He has amassed more than 3,000 runs and four centuries, and these statistics speak for themselves.
10. DK Anefie: 11 Ducks
Rounding off the list is Ghana’s Daniel Kwabena Anefie, who has collected 11 ducks in just 36 appearances. Most of these came during Africa’s qualifying tournaments, where Ghana often had to contend with far more seasoned bowling line-ups.
In 2019, Collins Obuya of Kenya bowled him for nought, and two years later, Uganda’s Dinesh Nakrani trapped him lbw without scoring.
Batting lower down the order, Anefie has frequently walked in under pressure while chasing, which has made quick dismissals harder to avoid.
His batting average hovers a little above ten, highlighting the gap between emerging and established sides. Still, Anefie remains valuable for Ghana thanks to his all-round skills, offering both runs and overs despite the string of zeros.
Which Player Got The Most Ducks In T20Is In A Calendar Year Recently?
That dubious honour in 2025 went to Pakistan’s Saim Ayub. Across 20 appearances, he walked back six times without troubling the scorers.
The Asia Cup was particularly brutal, where he bagged ducks against Oman, India, the UAE, and Bangladesh in quick succession. His batting woes drew plenty of attention, yet he wasn’t entirely quiet.
Ayub chipped in with six wickets and showed glimpses of his all-round value. Still, the run of noughts fuelled debate about whether the young left-hander is ready to anchor Pakistan’s top order regularly.
Related Read:
Conclusion: MD Shanaka Has The Most Ducks In T20Is At 14!
When it comes to career numbers, Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka sits at the summit with 14 T20I ducks. It’s a stat that underlines the risk every power-hitter takes.
Sometimes the intent wins you matches, sometimes it ends your stay in a flash. Shanaka, of course, has produced his share of match-turning knocks, but the tally of zeros shows the flip side of that approach.
For associate players like Irakoze, Bimenyimana, or Akayezu, the story is different: they often face far more experienced bowling units, and the gap in class tells on the scoreboard.
Yet even seasoned internationals aren’t spared. Rohit Sharma, Paul Stirling, and others have also collected their share of ducks, proof that in T20 cricket, nobody is too big for the game’s shortest dismissal.
FAQs
Players with limited T20I careers often avoided being dismissed for ducks entirely. Notable examples include Jonathan Batty (England), Mark Boucher (South Africa), and Sai Sudharsan (India), who have finished dozens of innings without being dismissed for zero.
Virat Kohli leads this record, going more than 60 consecutive T20I innings without being dismissed for zero during his peak years.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam holds this feat, crossing more than 40 T20I innings before suffering his first duck in the format.
Thailand’s Chaloemwong Chatphaisan once endured three consecutive ducks, one of the longest such streaks recorded in men’s T20Is.
Several cricketers retired without a duck, often lower-order batters or those with shorter careers. Jonathan Batty, Mark Boucher, and Sai Sudharsan are prime examples of maintaining a duck-free T20I record.
