According to Wikipedia, a duck in the game of cricket is a batsman’s dismissal with a score of zero. A batsman being dismissed off their first delivery faced is known as a golden duck.
Players getting out before opening their is seen as a mini-tragedy in cricket, especially if he is one of the top batsmen in the side.
Bonus: When a batter is out for a duck in both innings of a Test match, it is called a Pair. You can find out about list of all King Pairs in Test cricket here.
Here, in this article will list the top ten cricketers who have been out for duck most time in their career in all three formats of international cricket together.
Most Ducks in International Cricket (All Formats)
| PLAYER | DUCK OUTS | TEST | ODI | T20I | TOTAL INNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 59 | 33 | 25 | 1 | 328 |
| Courtney Walsh (WI) | 54 | 43 | 11 | 0 | 264 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 53 | 15 | 34 | 4 | 651 |
| Glenn McGrath (AUS) | 49 | 35 | 14 | 0 | 207 |
| Stuart Broad (ENG) | 49 | 39 | 8 | 2 | 338 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 47 | 15 | 28 | 4 | 725 |
| Daniel Vettori (NZ) | 46 | 20 | 23 | 3 | 383 |
| Wasim Akram (PAK) | 45 | 17 | 28 | 0 | 427 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 44 | 15 | 25 | 4 | 551 |
| Zaheer Khan (IND) | 44 | 29 | 15 | 0 | 232 |
| Shahid Afridi (PAK) | 44 | 6 | 30 | 8 | 508 |
| Shane Warne (AUS) | 44 | 34 | 10 | 0 | 306 |
Key Stats
Only four names in the top ten list are proper batters, and when you check the ratio of them being duck-out to the number of innings they have batted, it seems fine.
Here are the batsmen who top the duck list, format-wise:
- ODI – Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) – 34
- Test – Courtney Walsh (WI) – 43
- Kevin O’Brien (IRE) – 12
Jayasuriya is also the batter who has been dismissed most times in ODI cricket – 415 times, followed by Sachin Tendulkar – 411.
Bonus: You can also read about some famous streaks of ducks in this article.
