Dinesh Karthik, Harshal Patel, Axar Patel record new low for India during 2nd T20I against Ireland

While India walked away with a 2-0 series win against Ireland following their narrow four-run win on Tuesday in Dublin, their performance did raise a few concerns. First was the batting by India's middle and lower order, which saw 19 runs being scored between six batters. That India put on a formidable total of 225/7 was primarily due to two knocks – Deepak Hooda's century and Sanju Samson's 77 off 42 balls. The second alarming prospect is the performance of their bowlers. Sure, it was a small ground with a good batting pitch, but the fact that four out of India's six bowlers conceded over 10 runs an over, including Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel is not many expected.

Moreover, the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel and Harshal were dismissed for ducks. Not just any duck but all three were out for golden ducks. Karthik nicked his first ball to the keeper, followed by Axar, who chipped the ball down deep mid-wicket's throat off the next delivery bowled by Craig Young. Harshal was the final Indian wicket to fall as he was cleaned up by Mark Adair. This meant that yesterday's match the first instance of three Indian batters getting dismissed for first-ball ducks in a T20I. India is the only team to have 3 or more golden ducks in a T20I with a total of 200-plus.

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A total of 34 instances has been recorded in T20Is when a team had three or more batters dismissed for 1st-ball ducks. The overall record for most 1st-ball duck in a match for a team in T20Is is 5 – Netherlands against Ireland at Abu Dhabi on 18 October 2021. Among the Test playing nations, this was the 12th such instance in T20Is.

This however is not the first time that three India batters have been dismissed for ducks in the same match (golden ducks excluded). Previously, India have endured three ducks in an innings on four different occasions in T20Is; however, never have they registered four. The first time it happened was in 2011 against England. Next was during a T20I against South Africa in 2016. The 2016 Asia Cup tie against Pakistan too saw three batters dismissed without opening their accounts, while the most recent before the Ireland tie took place in Sri Lanka last year.