3 famous Indian batsmen who have scored Diamond ducks in International Cricket

Batting is a tough nut to crack and especially when it is practised at the International level. As a result, any batter who does well at the highest level earns a huge amount of respect in the eyes of the cricket fraternity. However, there at times when a batter is equally criticized for putting up a poor show on display.

One such situation occurs when a batsman scores a duck and is deemed unfortunate to get dismissed without scoring any run. A duck is one such thing that a batter always dreads and always aims to open his account while batting. However, this is not the case every time any batter takes the guard.

At times, a batsman gets out to the first delivery that he faces, scoring an undesirable golden duck. However, what is even more disheartening is to score a diamond duck, a scenario where a batsman is ruled out without even facing a single ball. There have been certain instances when players have registered diamond ducks in their careers.

Here, we take a look at three accomplished Indian batsmen who have scored diamond ducks in their careers:

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#3 Navjot Singh Sidhu

Navjot Singh Sidhu

To mark the completion of 25 years of their Independence, Bangladesh hosted a Tri-series in 1998 as Silver Jubilee Independence Cup involving neighbours India and Pakistan. In the inaugural match of the tournament, India was up against the hosts at Dhaka when a unique thing occurred during India's chase

In pursuit of 191, in a reduced 48-over match, the visitors had a poor start, losing their opening batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu in the first over of the chase itself. It was a result of the communication breakdown between Sidhu and his opening partner Sourav Ganguly on the fifth delivery of India's chase which resulted in Sidhu getting run-out without even facing a single delivery.

However, a skipper's knock from M Azharuddin(84) and a fifty from Sachin Tendulkar ensured that India secured an easy 4-wicket win against the hosts to hand them the first defeat of the competition.

Also see – World Test Championship Schedule

#2 Rahul Dravid

Dravid was run-out by a mile at Lahore in 2004

Known as The Wall of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid had a mixed outing on the Pakistan tour in 2004 before coming into the Test series. Even in the first Test at Multan, Dravid fell cheaply for merely six in India's innings victory against the hosts. In the second Test, the skipper failed to convert his start in the first innings as the entire team got bundled out for 287.

Trailing by a huge margin in the second innings, Dravid was out early without even troubling the scorers. After the dismissal of Aakash Chopra, Dravid joined Virender Sehwag, the triple centurion from the first Test. However, the duo didn't share a great understanding in running between the wickets as Dravid was rendered helpless on one of Sehwag's call for a quick single. The fielder at point was quick on the ball and saw the Indian captain short of his crease as he bagged a Diamond duck in what turned out to be a horrifying Test match for Dravid.

#1 Virat Kohli

Kohli was on his way back to the pavilion for nought

In the Tri-series involving the hosts Zimbabwe, India, and Sri Lanka in 2010, the Indian outfit was fancied by a relatively young squad under the leadership of Suresh Raina. The tour didn't pan out as planned for the Indian team as they couldn't make it to the finals of the tri-series.

In the inaugural game of the Tri-nation competition, Zimbabwe was hosting the Men in Blue. After winning the toss, India decided to bat first but was restricted to 285 in their 50 overs. In India innings, a tragedy occurred in the tenth over of the innings with Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli being at the centre of the things.

In an attempt to steal a nervy single, both the youngsters were quick to respond. However, a direct hit from Zimbabwean skipper Elton Chigumbura saw Virat Kohli short of his ground as he couldn't face even a single delivery and had to make his way back to the pavilion. This was the first time that Kohli bagged a Diamond duck in his playing career at the International level.