• Source:JND

Pakistan made an unwanted piece of Test cricket history during the Headingley Test against England.

For the second time in the match, Pakistan lost their first wicket without adding a single run to the scoreboard. In the first innings, Azan Awais was dismissed for a first-ball duck by Ollie Robinson. In the second innings on Friday, August 21, Imam-ul-Haq also fell for a duck, scoring 0 off 5 balls in the second over.

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Losing the first wicket at 0 is not unusual in Test cricket. However, doing it in both innings of the same Test is far less common. Pakistan have now suffered this fate seven times, the most by any team in Test cricket.

Team Count
Pakistan 7
England 5
Australia 4
India 2
New Zealand 1
Zimbabwe 1
South Africa 1
Ireland 1
Bangladesh 1
West Indies 1

Pakistan have reached this unwanted mark once in every 68 Tests, having played 472 matches. England are second on the list with five such instances in 1,098 Tests, roughly once every 220 matches.

Pakistan’s first such occurrence came in March 1979 against Australia at the WACA in Perth. They lost their first wicket for 0 in both innings.

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Three years later, in July 1982, Pakistan repeated the unwanted feat against England in Birmingham. It was the first of three times they have done so against England.

After a 15-year gap, Pakistan again lost their first wicket without a run on the board in both innings against Sri Lanka at the SSC in Colombo in April 1997. On that occasion, both innings began with the opening batter being dismissed for a golden duck.

The unwanted record appeared more frequently in the following years. Pakistan did it against Australia in Sharjah in October 2002 and then against South Africa at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in October 2013. On both occasions, their first wicket fell for 0 in the first and third innings.

Their sixth previous instance came in January 2024 against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Now, after Imam-ul-Haq’s dismissal at Headingley, Pakistan have reached the mark for the seventh time which is more than any other team in Test cricket.


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