5 famous batsmen dismissed for duck on 3 or more occasions in India-SA Tests

Sourav Ganguly (4)

Sourav Ganguly Hashim Amla

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was also dismissed for a duck four times in Tests against South Africa.

Ganguly’s first score of zero against the Proteas came at his home ground during the 1996 Test. It came in the second innings as India were chasing an improbable 467; Ganguly was caught behind on his fourth ball off the bowling of Lance Klusener, who ended up with 8 for 64 on debut as India crumbled to 137 all out. The Test also marked the debut of Herschelle Gibbs.

Ganguly’s second duck against the Proteas came at Durban in the Boxing Day Test of 1996 where India batted disastrously to fold up for 100 and 66. Ganguly was cleaned up by Allan Donald for a golden duck in the second innings as India succumbed to defeat by 328 runs.

A decade later, in yet another Boxing Day Test at the same venue, Ganguly got his third duck against the Proteas. He was caught by Gibbs off Makhaya Ntini, second ball in the first innings as India went on to lose the Test by 174 runs.

It was Ntini again who dismissed Ganguly for a zero in Ahmedabad Test of 2008. He clean bowled him, again second ball, as India collapsed to 76 all out. South Africa went on to win the Test by an innings and 90 runs.

Hashim Amla

Overall, Hashim Amla had an impressive record against India, with 1528 runs from 21 Tests at an average of 43.65 with as many as five hundreds. But even he was dismissed without scoring four times.

His first duck against India came at Johannesburg in the 2006 Test, which India famously won by 123 runs. Amla was one of S. Sreesanth’s victims in the fast bowler’s match-defining spell of 5 for 40. He was caught by VVS Laxman facing his 6th ball in the first innings as South Africa were all out for 84.

In the very next Test at Durban, Amla fell lbw to Sreesanth for a four-ball duck in the second innings. This was after he was trapped lbw by Zaheer Khan for 1 in the first essay. South Africa though won the Test by 174 runs.

In the Kanpur Test of 2008, Amla was out without scoring in the second innings, as Harbhajan Singh had him caught by Wasim Jaffer sixth ball. Amla had contributed 51 in the first innings but a good all-round show by India saw them win by 8 wickets.

The South African legend got another zero as South Africa looked to chase down 218 in the Mohali Test of 2015. He was cleaned up by Jadeja 6th ball. The left-arm spinner finished with 5 for 21 as India won by 108 runs.