In another forgettable innings for Abhishek Sharma, he was dismissed on the very first ball of the IPL 2026 fixture between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

 

Facing Jofra Archer, Abhishek had an attempt at the start but was too aggressive as he mistimed the ball towards the third man and it was caught by Ravi Bishnoi. This brought SRH under immense pressure at the very beginning.

 

This was Abhishek's 2nd Duck in IPL 2026 and 7th duck of the calendar year of T20s now taking him at the top of the list among Indians in a single year.

 

Another Unwanted Record to his name

 

This dismissal meant that Abhishek equaled the record of the most number of ducks in a calendar year by an Indian in T20s and he now shares the space with the likes of Rohit Sharma (2018) and Sanju Samson (2024) with 6 ducks each.

 

However, what is even more concerning is the pace at which he achieved it. He managed to bag 7 ducks in 18 innings of T20s this calendar year, with the second being Cooper Connolly bagging 4 ducks in 17 innings. This clearly explains a pattern which has become a huge concern while he tries to go aggressively right at the start.

 

This is the first time an SRH batter was dismissed on the first ball of the innings. Previous instance was when Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed in the first ball of the IPL 2018 against CSK.

 

However, Abhishek's other performances are also not convincing and there is no other way to define it other than poor with him not being able to convert starts and getting out cheaply.

 

Also Read | Watch: Jofra Archer Strikes on First Ball, Abhishek Sharma Fails Again in IPL 2026

 

Most T20 Ducks by an Indian in a Calendar Year

Players	Ducks	Year
Abhishek Sharma	7	2026
Rohit Sharma	6	2018
Sanju Samson	6	2024

 

Most Duck for SRH in IPL

 

Players	Ducks
Rashid Khan	9
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	5
Abhishek Sharma*	5
Sandeep Sharma	4
Travis Head	4