Golden duck horror! Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma register unwanted record T20I vs Ireland

Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma (Image Agency) India’s bid to level the T20I series against Ireland got off to a disastrous start in Belfast on Sunday as both openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma were dismissed for golden ducks in the very first match, creating an unwanted record.Jai Moondra struck twice in the opener, removing Samson and Abhishek off the first ball they faced. It marked only the second time in T20I history involving full-member nations that both opening batsmen were dismissed for first-ball ducks in the same innings. The only previous instance occurred in 2018 when Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar met the same fate against the West Indies in Basseterre. The collapse did not end there. Moondra came back in the third over to dismiss skipper Shreyas Iyer before Ishan Kishan finished in the fifth as India slumped to four wickets in a power chase chasing 155.Most ducks in T20Is in a calendar year (FM teams)7 Saim Job (2025)6 Richard the Ship (2024)6 Abhishek Sharma (2026) *The innings also added to Abhishek Sharma’s unwanted record. The left-handed opener registered his sixth duck in T20Is in calendar year 2026, leaving him just one behind Pakistan’s Saim Ayub, who holds the record of seven ducks in a calendar year among full members. Zimbabwean Richard Ngarava also had six ducks in 2024.Both India’s opening batsmen dismissed for ducks in T20I inningsRohit & Rahane vs Pak Mirpur 2016Gill & Jaiswal vs SA Gqeberha 2023Samson & Abhishek vs Ireland Belfast 2026It was also only the third time that both Indian opening batsmen were dismissed for ducks in the same T20I innings. The previous instances happened against Pakistan in Mirpur in 2016 when Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane fell without scoring and against South Africa in Gqeberha in 2023 when Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were dismissed for ducks.Earlier in the evening, India did well to restrict Ireland to 154 for 8 after opting to bat first. The pace trio of Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and debutant Prince Yadav shared the first wickets to reduce Ireland to 48 for 3 after eight overs.Harry Tector, playing his 100th T20I, capped the innings with a composed 53 off 47 balls and put on a 65-run partnership with Ben Calitz, who made 37 off 23 deliveries. Shivam Dube then pulled things back for India by claiming two wickets in consecutive deliveries in the 15th over.India handed T20I debuts to batting all-rounder Suryansh Shedge and fast bowler Prince Yadav, while 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi again missed out on a place in the playing eleven.The visitors entered the match 0-1 down in the series after suffering a historic 34-run defeat in the opening match, Ireland’s first ever victory over India in international cricket.