Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Anshul Kamboj made his much-awaited international debut yesterday, receiving his Test cap at the age of 24. Playing his first innings on day two of the match, the young right-hander would have hoped for a dream start. Instead, he was dismissed for a three-ball duck, falling to England’s Ben Stokes.
While a duck on debut is never ideal, Kamboj is not the first CSK player to experience such a beginning. In fact, he joins two of CSK’s most iconic names — MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina — who also had inauspicious starts to their international careers.
MS Dhoni’s Golden Duck on ODI Debut
It was December 23, 2004, when MS Dhoni made his international debut in an ODI against Bangladesh in Chattogram. The match turned out to be a nail-biter, but for Dhoni, it was a personal low. He was run out for a golden duck without facing a single ball — an anticlimactic start for a man who would later become one of India’s greatest captains and finishers.
Despite the poor start, Dhoni went on to redefine Indian cricket, winning every major ICC trophy and becoming a CSK legend in the IPL.
Suresh Raina’s Debut Duck Against Sri Lanka
Just months after Dhoni’s debut, another future CSK stalwart, Suresh Raina, made his international debut. The year was 2005, and the venue was Dambulla in Sri Lanka. Raina’s innings was cut short before it began, as he was trapped LBW by Muttiah Muralitharan for a golden duck.
However, unlike many who fade after such a start, Raina bounced back strongly. On his Test debut five years later, he scored a century, cementing his place as one of India’s most reliable middle-order batsmen in white-ball cricket.
Ashwin Also Started His Test Career With a Duck
Though not an ODI debut duck, it’s worth noting that Ravichandran Ashwin, another CSK legend, started his Test career with a duck. Facing the West Indies in 2011, Ashwin was dismissed by Darren Sammy after a 6-ball stay. He may have started with a zero, but like Dhoni and Raina, Ashwin too went on to have a stellar international career, becoming one of India’s greatest spinners.
Kamboj’s False Start Could Be a Sign of Great Things to Come
While Anshul Kamboj’s debut duck may sting for now, he is in the company of legends who stumbled at the start only to soar higher later. With CSK’s rich history of nurturing match-winners, there’s every reason to believe that this could just be a humble beginning to a memorable international journey.
