5 players with most pairs in cricket history

Getting dismissed for a duck is not something any batsman likes, irrespective of the fact whether he is a specialist batsman or a specialist number 11. However, it is surely a bigger embarrassment if the batsmen end up getting a duck in both innings of a Test match. It is called a pair and remains one of the most embarrassing records in the CV of most players.

Over the course of Test cricket history, plenty of cricketers have ended up getting pairs but there are some who have got pairs more than once during the course of their careers. Here is a look at 5 players who got the highest number of pairs in Test cricket history.

Note: They have been ranked in accordance with the number of ducks they got in their whole career.

#5 Bhagwat Chandrasekhar

As far as ‘legendary’ tailenders are concerned, former Indian spin bowling ace Bhagwat Chandrasekhar was in a league of his own. One thing that clearly demonstrates the fact that he was a consummate tailender was that he scored fewer aggregate runs in Test cricket (167) than the number of wickets (242) that he took during the course of his illustrious career.

Naturally, his career was littered with ducks and a career batting average of 4.07 tells its own story. Chandrasekhar was out for nought on as many as 23 occasions and out of those, 8 ducks consisted of pairs. He made 4 pairs in his Test career.

#4 Merv Dillon

Merv Dillon was the spearhead of the team’s fast bowling attack

The former West Indian fast bowler might have played only 38 Test matches but for a while in the noughties, Merv Dillon was the spearhead of the team’s fast bowling attack. However, it is his dubious record as a batsman that is the subject of this article and in that regard, it must be said that Dillon was definitely a cricketer, who did not quite bother with batting.

He averaged 8.44 in Test cricket and although he does have a first-class half-century to his credit, Dillon was a walking wicket otherwise. He got as many as 26 ducks in Test cricket, however, what takes him into the record books is his tally of 4 pairs.

#3 Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan threw this bat at everything

He is the highest wicket-taker in the history of the game and throughout the majority of his career, Muttiah Muralitharan remained Sri Lanka’s most important bowler. However, when it came to batting, he had a technique of his own and did not like hanging around much. Murali did not quite trust himself to survive for long and hence threw his bat at everything.

Needless to say, it led to not only to passages of comical batting but also a fair few numbers of ducks. However, his batting was always entertaining and even though he averaged only 11.67, he had a strike rate of 70.28. In his Test career spanning 133 Test matches, he was dismissed for a duck on 33 occasions and 8 of those came in pairs in 4 Test matches.

#2 Courtney Walsh

Courtney Walsh was a truly terrible batsman

One of the most abiding memories of former West Indian great Courtney Walsh’s batting abilities was that of him surviving for 5 deliveries at Barbados in March 1999 as the West Indies chased down 308, thanks to Brian Lara’s brilliant innings. Each time he survived there was a cheer around the ground and the reason for that was the fact that Walsh was a truly terrible batsman.

He played in 132 Test matches for the West Indies and had even scored a 30 not out, but a career batting average of 7.54 tells its own story. Needless to say, he got plenty of ducks and his personal tally of 43 is the highest in the history of Test cricket. Naturally, a handful of them came in pairs and his tally of 4 takes him into this dubious hall of fame.

#1 Chris Martin

Ducks came thick and fast in Chris Martin's career

The former New Zealand swing bowler is in a class of his own as far as batting incompetence is concerned and has become an icon of sorts for his inability with the bat. Chris Martin played only 71 Test matches in his career but trumps everyone else on this list as far as comical batting stakes are concerned. He took a respectable 233 wickets in his Test career but scored an aggregate of 123 runs and that is perhaps the clearest indication of his batting abilities.

Ducks came thick and fast in his career and he made as many as 36 in his whole career. If he had gone on to play more Test matches, then he would certainly have broken all records. 14 of those ducks came in pairs and his tally of 7 pairs remains the record in Test cricket. It will take a few years before anyone of his calibre comes along and breaks this record.