New Delhi .Indian cricket team's star batsman Virat Kohli is on the verge of registering an unwanted record in international cricket, which no player would like to add to his account. After being out for zero in the fourth match of the ODI series against New Zealand, Kohli has come very close to the record of former fast bowler Zaheer Khan in terms of being out for a duck the most number of times in international cricket among Indian players. Zaheer Khan has 43 ducks in his name, while Kohli has so far returned to the pavilion 42 times without opening the account.
On 13 November, the fourth ODI match of the series was played between India and New Zealand at the Bay Oval ground in Mount Maunganui. Indian batting completely faltered in this match. New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry bowled Virat Kohli with a brilliant ball. Kohli could not even open his account in this match. Earlier, Rohit Sharma was also out in the initial over.
The start of the Indian team was so bad that three wickets fell in the initial overs without scoring any runs. Due to continuous loss of wickets, Indian batting could not recover from the pressure and the entire team was reduced to just 89 runs. New Zealand won this match by a huge margin of 244 runs. This defeat has increased the challenge before the Indian team in the last match of the series.
Zaheer Khan is at the first place in the list of most ducks by Indian players in international cricket with 43 dismissals for zero. Virat Kohli has reached second position with 42 ducks. Ishant Sharma has 40 ducks in his name and is at third position. Harbhajan Singh and Jasprit Bumrah have been out 37-37 times without opening the account. Rohit Sharma is next in the list with 36 ducks. Whereas Anil Kumble has 35 ducks in his name and Sachin Tendulkar has 34 ducks in his account.
Another unwanted record has been added to Kohli's name in ODI cricket. He has equaled Sachin Tendulkar for the most number of dismissals among Indian batsmen in One Day Internationals. Both the batsmen have 20-20 ducks in their names in this format. In this list, former Indian fast bowler Javagal Srinath is at third place with 19 ducks.
The names of Rohit Sharma, Anil Kumble and Yuvraj Singh are also included in the list of Indian players who have been out on zero the most number of times in ODIs. All three have 18 ducks each in their account. Harbhajan Singh has been out 17 times and Sourav Ganguly 16 times without opening the account.
Now the Indian team faces the fifth and last match of the five-match ODI series. India is currently leading 2-1 in the series. Team India will have the opportunity to win the series in the decisive match on Sunday. In such a situation, Virat Kohli would also like to leave behind the disappointment of the last match and make useful contribution with the bat.
This match will also be important for Kohli in terms of personal performance. While he will try to lead the team to victory with his batting, he will also want to avoid surpassing Zaheer Khan's record in terms of ducks in international cricket. Now it has to be seen how well his bat performs in the last ODI and whether the Indian team is successful in capturing the series or not.