While Pakistan achieved a historic whitewash against South Africa on their home turf, becoming the first team to do so, Shafique’s performance stood out for the wrong reasons.
Shafique was dismissed for a duck (zero runs) in all three matches of the series, making him a record holder for the most ducks in a bilateral three-match ODI series. He now shares this unwanted record with India’s Suryakumar Yadav, who achieved the same dubious feat last year against Australia in a home series.
Before this, 13 other batters had been dismissed for a duck three times in a single series. However, both Shafique and Yadav are the only players to achieve the ignominy of being dismissed for a duck in every match of a three-match series.
Adding to the embarrassment, Shafique has now set another record in Pakistan’s cricket history. In 2023, he has been dismissed for a duck seven times in 21 innings—the most ducks by a Pakistani batter in a single calendar year. This surpasses the previous record held by Imran Nazir, who was dismissed six times in 32 innings in 2000, and Mohammad Hafeez, who also had six ducks in 43 innings in 2012.
Despite Pakistan’s team success in the series, Shafique’s individual performance stands as a glaring anomaly in an otherwise memorable achievement for the team.
