India opener Abhishek Sharma added an unwanted record to his name after being dismissed for a first-ball duck against Japan in the team’s rain-affected T20I at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Sano, Kanto.
Abhishek, who smashed the fastest T20I century by an Indian in India’s previous outing against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, could not make an impact this time. The left-hander was dismissed off the very first ball as India were involved in a five-over-a-side contest ahead of the Asian Games.
The dismissal saw Abhishek join an unwanted list of batters with the most ducks in T20Is in a calendar year. He now has seven ducks in T20Is in 2026, matching the record held by Zappy Bimenyimana (2023), Orchide Tuyisenge (2023) and Saim Ayub (2025).
Abhishek has also moved to the top of another unwanted list in T20 cricket. He has now registered 10 ducks across T20 matches in 2026, the most by any player in a calendar year.
Rashid Khan had recorded nine ducks in T20s in 2019, while Shadab Khan also had nine in 2024.
Abhishek’s latest dismissal comes just days after his stunning 108 off 34 balls against Afghanistan. He reached his century in only 30 balls, producing one of the most explosive innings of his career. However, the rain-hit match against Japan proved to be a very different outing for the Indian opener.
In the India vs Japan clash, the Men in Blue managed to score 32 runs. Shreyas Iyer was India's highest run-scorer, scoring 16 runs after opting to bat.
India vs Japan playing XIs
Japan (Playing XI): Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming(c), Benjamin Ito-Davis, Wataru Miyauchi, Alexander Shirai-Patmore(w), Charlie Hara-Hinze, Ibrahim Takahashi, Declan Suzuki-McComb, Makoto Taniyama, Shoma Sugaya-Slater.
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh