Cricket is one of the unforgiving sports for a batter as they get only one chance per inning, unlike the bowlers. A batter can be out on the first ball and that is it for the innings. Hence, there is no heartbreaking moment for a batter more than getting out for a duck and that is why their primary objective is to get off the mark in an innings. While skill and technique play a key role in a batter surviving the opposition bowlers and conditions, they also need luck, especially for an opener as any ball can have their name written on it.
Sometimes, when the stars are not aligned in favor on a given day, a Test opener may not trouble the scorers and as an international cricketer, they need to keep these occurrences as minimal as possible. Here are the Test openers with the most ducks.
Most Ducks as Openers in Test Cricket
| Player | Innings | Ducks as Opener |
|---|---|---|
| Kraigg Brathwaite (WI) | 180 | 18 |
| Mike Atherton (ENG) | 197 | 17 |
| Marvan Atapattu (SL) | 136 | 16 |
| Virender Sehwag (IND) | 170 | 15 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 173 | 14 |
| Matthew Hayden (AUS) | 184 | 14 |
| Pankaj Roy (IND) | 74 | 14 |
| Andrew Strauss (ENG) | 171 | 14 |
| Gary Kirsten (SA) | 149 | 13 |
| David Warner (AUS) | 202 | 13 |
Key Stats
526 – There have been 1010 Test openers in Test history. Out of those, 526 batters have got out for a duck at least once in their Test career as an opener.
18 – The West Indies Test captain holds the dubious record of getting on ducks most often as a Test opener. He roughly grabs a duck in every 10 innings and is still active in the circuit for the Windies.
22 – The number of Test openers who have gotten out for a duck on 10 or more occasions in the format. The two active Test openers along with Brathwaite to be present in the 22 are Tom Latham (12 in 149 innings) and Dimuth Karunaratne (10 in 178 innings). Both of these batters will need to do well to not proceed further on the list.
9 – Alastair Cook, who has played the most innings (278) as an opener has bagged a duck only 9 times, which is remarkable. Legendary India batter, Sunil Gavaskar, who has the second-most runs in this position, has got for naught on 11 occasions in Test cricket.
Two players have gotten out for a duck on 10 or more occasions but played less than 100 innings as Test opener. One is Pankaj Roy (14 in 74 innings) and the other is Zimbabwe’s Grant Flower (12 in 84 innings). England’s Rory Burns is close to the mark with 9 ducks in 59 innings thus far.
