HKG’s Ayush Shukla joins Lockie Ferguson and Saad Bin Zafar in top T20I bowling list with four maiden overs

Ayush Shukla, a 21-year-old medium pacer from Hong Kong, has made history. In a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian ICC Men’s T20 global Cup Asia Qualifier A match against Mongolia, Shukla tied the global record held by Lockie Ferguson of New Zealand for the most consecutive maiden overs bowled in a T20I game.

He began Hong Kong’s bowling attack and, with the last delivery of the first over, claimed a wicket, setting the tone for the team. After bowling 18 dot balls in a row, Shukla finished his spell with 4-4-0-1 (four overs, four maidens, no runs given up, and one wicket taken).

The bowler with Indian ancestry has so far appeared in 35 Twenty20 International matches for Hong Kong, taking 30 wickets at an average of 28.90 and an economy of 8.29.

Hong Kong limits Mongolia to only seventeen runs.

He was only the third bowler in T20I history to achieve this feat and the first Asian to do so with this spell. In 2021, Canada’s T20I skipper Saad Bin Zafar set the record against Panama. Later, in 2024, during the ICC T20 World Cup, Kiwi speedster Lockie Ferguson equalled it against Papua New Guinea.

Bowlers to bowl four consecutive maiden overs in T20Is

Shukla’s bowling efforts contributed to Hong Kong’s resounding victory. With his colleague Ehsan Khan’s career-best 4/5 statistics, they were able to dismiss Mongolia for just 17 runs in 14.2 overs. The target was subsequently easily reached by Hong Kong in just 1.4 overs, with only one wicket lost in the process. Hong Kong is now leading the points table after winning two of their first two matches in the qualifier competition.

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With four points under their belt and a good NRR of 9.514, they have put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the T20 World Cup.