10 cricketers whose career ended with duck in final match

Not every cricketer’s career ends on a high note. While their careers in general might have been quite illustrious, certain cricketers have not really had a memorable outing in their final match. On the other hand, there have been quite a few cricketers who have made a notable contribution in their final match.

Some of the cricketers and batters, in particular, which fall in the above bracket are Brendon McCullum (145 and 27 against Australia in 2016) and Alastair Cook (71 and 171 against India in 2018). However, there is also a list of batters who failed to add to the scoreboard in their final matches of their international career.

10 cricketers whose careers ended with a duck in their final match

10. Donald Bradman vs England, 1948

Donald Bradman, arguably one of the greatest batters of the 20th century, was dismissed for a silver duck in his final Test innings. He ended up being bowled off a googly by Eric Hollies. This also meant that the Australian great ended his Test career with an average of 99.94 having scored 6,996 runs in 80 innings.

9. Vinoo Mankad vs West Indies, 1959

After scoring 21 and bowling 55 overs for 167 runs in the first and second innings of the Test, respectively, Vinoo Mankad was dismissed without troubling the scorers in his final innings of his career. Mankad ended his Test career with 2109 runs in 72 innings at an average of 31.47. 

8. Aamer Sohail vs Sri Lanka, 2000

Aamer Sohail fell for a seven-ball duck in his final innings as an international player. He had bowled better than batted in this particular game. Sohail was amongst the two Pakistanis to have gotten dismissed for a duck in the second innings. He scored 2823 runs at an average of 35.28 in 83 Test innings.

7. Sourav Ganguly vs Australia, 2008

Sourav Ganguly‘s final international game was a mixed bag. He failed to carry on the momentum from the first to the second innings, getting dismissed for a golden duck after scoring 85. India eventually won the game by 172 runs. Ganguly scored 7212 runs in 188 innings at an average of 42.17.

6. Andrew Symonds

In his final T20I appearance which also marked Andrew Symonds‘ final international match, he was dismissed on the first ball he faced by a quicker delivery by Shahid Afridi. Symonds, who had had a remarkable career for Australia by then, retired with 337 runs in 11 T20I innings while striking at 169.34. 

5. Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Shivnarine Chanderpaul‘s final international innings was a nine-ball duck against England as he bottom-edged a loosener from James Anderson onto the stumps. Chanderpaul ended with 11,867 Test runs in 280 innings at an average of 51.37.    

4. Ian Bell vs Pakistan, 2015

A beautiful delivery by Shoaib Malik from around-the-wicket which held its line knocked back Ian Bell‘s stumps for a six-ball duck in his final game. This was after a solid 40-run knock off 158 deliveries in the first innings. With this, Bell’s Test career ended with 7727 runs in 205 innings at an average of 42.69.

3. Gautam Gambhir vs England, 2016

Gautam Gambhir was dismissed without scoring in India’s second innings of the first Test of the 2016 series against England. Gambhir could not help but fend a short delivery into the hands of the fielder at second slip to end an uncomfortable six-ball stay at the crease. He scored 4154 runs in 104 Test innings at an average of 41.95.

2. Eoin Morgan vs Netherlands, 2022

Eoin Morgan had to head back to the pavilion for a seven-ball duck after a top-edging wild swipe across the line led to his dismissal in his final outing. He ended his ODI career as the most successful 50-over skipper of England having led them to World Cup glory in 2019.  

1. Azhar Ali vs England, 2022

Azhar Ali was cleaned up by Jack Leach, his Somerset teammate, on the fourth ball of his final innings in international cricket. It wasn’t the fairytale ending the Pakistani stalwart would have expected as he walked off to a guard of honour after scoring 7142 runs in 180 Test innings at an average of 42.26.