Jai Mundra gave ‘Golden Duck’ injury to Sanju Samson, became the first Indian to be dismissed twice on the first ball in T20.

New Delhi. In the game of cricket, getting out on the very first ball of the innings is a nightmare for any batsman. But when this unwanted record is registered in the name of a player twice, it leaves a mark in the pages of history which is not easy to forget. Something similar happened with Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson on the field of Belfast. In this T20 international match played against Ireland, an unwanted record was registered in Samson’s name, which no batsman would ever want to see in his career.

Sanju Samson has now become the first Indian batsman in the history of T20 international cricket to be dismissed twice on the very first ball of the match. It is not that he is the only player in the history of Indian cricket to lose a wicket on the first ball of the innings. Before him, veteran and aggressive batsmen like KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Rohit Sharma and Abhishek Sharma have also returned to the pavilion on the very first ball of the innings. But, none of these batsmen had to face this extremely disappointing and embarrassing moment twice in their career. Samson has become the only Indian in this list whose name has been mentioned ‘twice’.

The beginning of this match was very bad for India. When Sanju Samson came on the field to start the Indian innings after winning or losing the toss, the fans expected a big and aggressive innings from him. But Ireland’s left-arm fast bowler Jai Mundhra had different intentions. Mundra pitched the very first ball of the innings at the perfect length. After hitting the ball, it came a little inwards and directly hit the pads of right-handed batsman Sanju Samson. Samson’s head turned slightly on this in-swinging ball and he completely missed the line of the ball. The ball hit his front pad directly and the Irish players made a strong appeal.

Without wasting any time the umpire raised his finger in the air. It seemed as if Samson could not believe this decision. He was seen immersed in disbelief and deep disappointment at the crease. He felt that perhaps the ball was missing the stumps, so without wasting any time he immediately resorted to the Decision Review System. But when the replays were seen and the ball tracking came on the screen, it dashed Samson’s remaining hopes. The technology clearly showed ‘three reds’, which meant that the ball was pitched in the right place, the impact was in front of the stumps and it was hitting the wickets straight. The umpire’s decision remained intact and Samson had to leave the field with a heavy heart.

With this wicket of Samson, some dark pages of India’s T20 history were turned again. If we look at history, the first name among the selected batsmen to be out on the first ball of the innings for India is that of KL Rahul, who despite his class, was caught in this trap. After this, Prithvi Shaw, famous for his aggressive batting, has also tasted getting out on the first ball at the international level. Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who has scored a lot of runs in T20, has also not remained untouched by this unwanted record and has been out once on the first ball. Young sensation Abhishek Sharma, who recently joined the team, is also included in this list. But among all these greats, Sanju Samson’s name has now come at the top by being included in this list twice.

The matter was not limited only to Sanju Samson’s dismissal. In this match, the Indian team suffered another big blow when Samson’s partner and second opener Abhishek Sharma also returned to the pavilion without opening the account. With this, another very rare and unwanted record was created in the history of Indian cricket. This was only the third such occasion in the history of T20 international cricket, when both India’s opening batsmen were out on the score of zero.

Earlier in the year 2016, in the match against arch-rival Pakistan at Mirpur ground, the pair of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane were out without opening the account, which shocked the Indian fans at that time. After this, in the year 2023, in the match against South Africa in Gkebarha, the young pair of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were also reduced to zero without scoring any runs. Now in the year 2026, the name of the pair of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma against Ireland on the ground of Belfast has also been registered in the list of this shameful record.