Kusal Mendis Surpasses Rohit Sharma in International Ducks After Golden Duck vs Pakistan in Asia Cup 2025

When Kusal Mendis walked back to the pavilion for a golden duck against Pakistan on September 24, 2025, he didn’t just lose a wicket—he entered cricket’s most unwanted club. The Sri Lankan batter’s zero against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025United Arab Emirates pushed his international duck tally to 35, overtaking Rohit Sharma’s 34. Now, only one man stands above him: Virat Kohli, with 38 ducks to his name. It’s not a record anyone wants, but in modern cricket, consistency in failure sometimes speaks louder than centuries.

The Unwanted Milestone

Mendis’s dismissal came in the 12th over of Sri Lanka’s chase, bowled by Shaheen Afridi with a sharp inswing that clipped the off stump. No drama. No review. Just a quiet walk back. It was his seventh T20I duck—and the 35th across formats. The irony? Just six days earlier, he’d smashed 74 not out against Afghanistan in the same tournament, playing the kind of aggressive, match-winning innings that made him one of Vocal Media’s Top 10 Best Batsmen of Asia Cup 2025. But cricket doesn’t forgive inconsistency—it just counts it.

Before this match, Mendis and Sharma were tied at 34 ducks. Now, Mendis leads the active players. Jos Buttler and Mushfiqur Rahim sit just behind at 33. The numbers are startling, but they reflect a brutal truth: in today’s high-pressure, fast-paced game, even elite batters face high-risk dismissals. A single poor shot, a misjudged sweep, a moment of hesitation—and the scoreboard reads zero.

Who’s Really Leading the List?

Virat Kohli’s 38 ducks are no accident. They’re the cost of playing 11 ODIs and 10 T20Is in Asia Cups alone—often carrying the innings on his back. He’s the only batter to score 183 in an Asia Cup final (2012) and 122 not out in a T20 match (2022). He’s also the only Indian to win both ODI and T20 Asia Cups as captain (2010, 2016). His ducks aren’t signs of weakness—they’re proof of volume, longevity, and pressure. He’s faced more balls in crunch games than any other batter of his generation.

But here’s the twist: not everyone agrees on the numbers. Geo Super TV reported on September 24 that Sharma had only 12 ducks—a figure that contradicts data from The Sports Tak and Hindustan Times. The discrepancy? Likely confusion between T20-only stats and overall international figures. Official ICC records, as compiled by ESPNcricinfo and CricketArchive, support the higher counts. Kohli’s 38, Mendis’s 35, Sharma’s 34—these are the figures that matter.

The Captaincy Contrast

While Mendis chases a dubious record, others are rewriting the rules of leadership. Rohit Sharma remains statistically the most successful ODI Asia Cup captain—11 matches, 9 wins, 1 loss, 81.81% win rate, titles in 2018 and 2023. He led India through a golden era, often stepping in when Kohli rested. But in 2025, it was Suryakumar Yadav who made history. As captain, he went 7-0 in the tournament, never losing a match. That’s perfect record territory. No Indian captain has ever done that in a single Asia Cup.

And then there’s MS Dhoni—the only man to win both formats as captain. His 5-0 record in the 2016 T20 Asia Cup remains untouchable. Sanath Jayasuriya still holds the all-time run record in Asia Cup history: 1,220 runs across 1998–2014. Kohli’s 1,042 runs in the tournament are second only to him.

What This Means for Mendis—and Sri Lanka

Mendis isn’t a bad player. He’s got flair, power, and the ability to change a game in 20 balls. But his inconsistency is a liability. In T20 cricket, where every wicket counts, you can’t afford to be the guy who scores 74 one day and 0 the next. Sri Lanka’s batting depth has been shaky for years. Mendis’s role is crucial—he’s their designated finisher. But if he keeps falling early, they’ll keep losing tight games.

Meanwhile, Kohli’s ducks are becoming part of his legend. Like Sachin Tendulkar’s 45 ODI ducks, they’re not failures—they’re footnotes in a career defined by greatness. Mendis, at 28, still has time to turn it around. But the pressure is mounting. The next time he walks out to bat, fans won’t just watch for boundaries—they’ll watch for the next zero.

What’s Next?

The Asia Cup 2025 ended on September 19, but the conversation won’t. The next Asia Cup is slated for 2027, likely in India. Kohli, now 36, may not play. Mendis, at his peak, will. Can he shed the duck tag? Or will he chase Kohli’s record—and maybe even break it? One thing’s certain: in cricket, records aren’t just about runs. Sometimes, they’re about resilience. And silence.