KL Rahul Achieves Unwanted Record, Joins Sunil Gavaskar On The List
KL Rahul became the sixth Indian batsman to be dismissed off the first ball of a Test match.
Highlights
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Rahul's golden duck ended his streak of seven consecutive Test 50s
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Gavaskar was dismissed off the first ball of the the match three times
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Archie MacLaren was the first batsman to depart for a golden duck
India opener KL Rahul added an unwanted record to his name as he was dismissed off the first ball of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. Not just that, Rahul's Golden Duck came off the first ball of the match. A seaming delivery from Suranga Lakmal squared on the Karnataka right-hander inside the crease, forcing him to play away from his body and edge the delivery to wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella.
Rahul's golden duck ended his streak of seven consecutive Test 50s.
Rahul also became only the third batsman ever to be dismissed off the first ball at this venue (Eden Gardens). Sudhir Naik and Sunil Gavaskar are the two others on this unwanted list at this venue.
Overall, Rahul is the sixth Indian batsman to join the inglorious line-up.
Apart from Naik and Gavaskar, WV Raman, Shiv Sunder Das and Wasim Jaffer are the other Indian batsmen who departed on the first delivery in a Test match.
The batting legend Gavaskar has had distinction of being dismissed off the first ball of the match three times in his career (1974, 1983 and 1987).
England's Archie MacLaren was the first batsman to depart for a golden duck. He was sent packing by Australia's Arthur Coningham during a Test match in 1894 in Melbourne.
Meanwhile, this is only the second time that Rahul was dismissed for a duck in his Test career. The last time when he departed without troubling the scorers was in the Vizag Test against England in 2016.