Abhishek Sharma breaks Rohit Sharma, Sanju Samson’s ‘unpopularity’ record

New Delhi: Explosive opener for Sunrisers Hyderabad Abhishek Sharma He set an unpopular record when he fell in love with a golden duck during a match against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026 and fell into shocked silence at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Abhishek, known for his attacking style, was dismissed by Royals pacer Jofra Archer on the first ball. Opening with Travis Head, he charged up the track and tried to dominate early but only got a thick upper edge and Ravi Bishnoi took a simple catch at deep.A visibly frustrated Abhishek hit the bat with his glove as he walked back, clearly disappointed with the early dismissal.This was the 24th time that Rajasthan Royals had taken a wicket before conceding a wicket, the most by any team in IPL history, followed by Mumbai Indians at the 22nd time. This was also the 12th time that Rajasthan Royals had batted off the first ball of their innings, another league record.The duck against RR was Abhishek’s seventh in 18 T20 innings in 2026, the most by any player this year. Cooper Connolly was second with four ducks in 17 innings.He also broke India’s record for most T20 ducks in a year, surpassing Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson. Abhishek has 7 ducks in 2026 (18 innings), while Rohit has 6 ducks in 2018 (32 innings) and Samson has 6 ducks in 2024 (32 innings). Gurkeerat Singh Mann took 5 ducks in 2013 (19 innings).Among Sunrisers Hyderabad batsmen, only Shikhar Dhawan has been dismissed for his first ball in an IPL match (the first match of the 2018 Qualifiers against Chennai Super Kings) and Abhishek has now joined that list.This was also the fourth time that Archer picked up a wicket on the first ball of an IPL innings. Mohammed Shami tops the list with 5 such instances, while Archer is second with 4.Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to bowl. Royals rested Shimron Hetmyer and Brijesh Sharma and brought in Luan Dere Pretorius and Tushar Deshpande. Sunrisers Hyderabad have included Praful Hinji in the starting XI, while Harshar Patel has been named as the impact substitute.team: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 Hinge.Rajasthan 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.