New Delhi:
It is now official! Ashton Turner, the Australian batsman who had scripted the miracle at Mohali, is in the midst of a terrible slump. After being dismissed for a duck in his first two games, Turner came when Rajasthan Royals were in a great position with Ajinkya Rahane having hit a century. However, the nightmare continued for Turner as he chipped a full, slow ball from Ishant Sharma to Sherfane Rutherford at extra cover to fall for a golden duck. Turner became the first player in Twenty20 history to be dismissed for five consecutive ducks and in the IPL, he joined an infamous list of players who were dismissed for a hat-trick of ducks.
Turner became the first overseas player and the sixth player overall to be dismissed for three consecutive ducks in one season of the IPL. Gautam Gambhir, the former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper who will now campaign for the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha 2019 Elections, was dismissed for three ducks in the 2014 edition. Apart from Gambhir, Pawan Negi and Shardul Thakur are the others to have suffered this fate. Apart from the three, Rahul Sharma and Ashok Dinda have been dismissed for three consecutive ducks in two editions of the IPL.
Turner's miraculous knock played a massive role in Australia’s resurgence as they won the five-match ODI series 2-3 and became the first Australian side to win a series from being 0-2 down in India. Prior to his knock in Mohali, Turner was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals for his base price of Rs 50 lakh during the auction in December 2018 and many expected him to perform great feats.
In the ongoing 2019 Indian Premier League, Turner’s journey has been a nightmare. In his debut game against Kings XI Punjab at the same venue where he had scored his miraculous 84, Turner mistimed a lofted shot off Ravichandran Ashwin to be caught at long off for a golden duck. In his next game against Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur on Saturday, Turner was cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah for yet another golden duck but unlike Mohali, Rajasthan Royals won the match by a close margin.
However, Turner’s woeful form in Twenty20s is actually longer. The dismissal against Mumbai Indians was actually his fourth consecutive duck in the format. Prior to the two matches in IPL 2019, Turner was dismissed for a golden duck in the final game against Adelaide Strikers for Perth Scorchers. In the first Twenty20 International against India in Vizag, Turner was dismissed for a three-ball duck by Hardik Pandya.
With his fifth consecutive duck, Ashton Turner might well be called Ashton Duckner for his ongoing woeful form.
