Follow UsFormer Pakistan captain Babar Azam played his first T20 International (T20I) for his country in 10 months. He got dropped from the side last year and, since then, he missed several bilateral series for Pakistan and also the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE.
Facing South Africa in the first T20I in Rawalpindi on October 28 (Tuesday), Babar's return to the side in the shortest format turned sour as he was dismissed for a two-ball duck. Babar failed to connect a length ball from Corbin Bosch and mistimed it to cover, going across the line.
With this duck, Babar now has eight ducks in T20I cricket. As a result, he went past Virat Kohli, who has seven ducks to his name. Kohli has seven ducks in 117 T20I innings and Babar now has one more than the Indian great in 122 innings.
The record for the most ducks in T20Is is held by Sri Lanka's Dasun Shanaka, who has been dismissed for nought on 14 occasions.
Babar, who is nine runs away from being the highest run-getter in T20Is, would look to make a significant contribution in the upcoming matches. Pakistan failed to get over the line in the first game, succumbing to a 55-run loss against South Africa, who successfully defended 194.
The Proteas rode on a brilliant all-round display from George Linde to go 1-0 up in the three-match series. The action for the rest of the series shifts to Lahore, with the second game set to be played on October 31 (Friday).