India, Nov. 19 -- Babar Azam finally ended an 800-plus days century drought last week. But barely days after being celebrated again as Pakistan's batting standard-bearer, he now finds his name in a list that no top-order great ever wants to be in.

In the T20I tri-series opener against Zimbabwe in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, the star batter was trapped LBW for a three-ball duck by Brad Evans, an early wobble in a chase of 148 that Pakistan eventually won by five wickets. The dismissal not only continued a worrying pattern of top-order failure, but it also pushed Babar past Shahid Afridi for the most ducks by a Pakistan batter in T20Is.

This latest failure was Babar's ninth duck in T20Is. Afridi's eight T20I ducks stood as the second-highest b...