Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: There was a stunned hush at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad as Abhishek Sharma fell for a golden duck against Rajasthan Royals.Known for his aggressive starts, Abhishek was dismissed off the very first ball of the match by Royals pacer Jofra Archer. Opening alongside Travis Head, he charged down the track looking to attack but only managed a thick top edge. Ravi Bishnoi made no mistake in the deep, completing a straightforward catch.A visibly frustrated Abhishek struck his gloves against the bat as he walked back, clearly disappointed at falling without scoring.It was his seventh duck in 18 T20 innings in 2026 – the most by any player this year, with Cooper Connolly next on the list with four in 17 innings.Among Sunrisers Hyderabad batters, only Shikhar Dhawan had previously been dismissed for a first-ball duck in an IPL match – against Chennai Super Kings in the 2018 Qualifier 1. Abhishek has now joined that unwanted list.Earlier, Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag won the toss and opted to bowl. The Royals rested Shimron Hetmyer and Brijesh Sharma, bringing in Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Tushar Deshpande. Sunrisers Hyderabad included Praful Hinge in their XI, while Harshal Patel was named among the impact substitutes.Teams:Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (c&wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Praful HingeRajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande.
