Term Hindi: बत्तख
The Duck in Cricket Explained
A term widely used and recognised in the game of cricket is a “Duck”. The expression however might seem somewhat confusing to those unfamiliar with cricket’s unique jargon. This article provides you all necessary insights about this special term.
Definition of a Duck
In its simplest form, a “Duck” refers when a batsman makes no runs whatsoever before getting out; resulting in them having not made any sort of score upon departing the crease – hence “caught for a duck” or “out for a duck”. Consequently the word ‘duck’ appears on the score sheet next to their name indicating zero run. It originated from the phrase ‘duck’s egg’, because an egg bears resemblance to number zero (‘0’).
Variations of Ducks
- Golden Duck: When a player is dismissed on first ball that he faces in his innings, it’s termed as golden duck.
- Diamond Duck: If a batsman gets out without even facing a single delivery (like runout on non-strikers end while stealing run on very first ball) this is known as diamond duck.
- Pairs: A sophisticated way of conveying that someone got out for zero runs (duck) in both innings is declaring they have achieved pair.
- King Pair: If batter manages to get out for zero scores in both innings on first balls faced itself, then this particular rare scenario is referred as king-pair.
Ducks statistics in cricket
Interestingly enough, records related to ducks are maintained assiduously too. This includes information about players with most ducks in their career, on the particular position or in specific format of the game. Despite these stats generally not being something to brag about, they undeniably add extra dimension into understanding player’s style and strategy as well as unpredictability factor inherent of cricket.
Getting a duck is not exactly the highlight for any cricketer considering it shines light upon his failure during that instance. But when viewed from perspective of whole team effort where batsmen solely focusing on score could jeopardize other aspects crucial in maintaining balance; even unfortunate moment of receiving a duck might come across as less dramatic when contributing teammate efforts filtering through bigger picture.
Conclusion
A “Duck” while seemingly an amusing term, represents one complex aspect among many others that uniquely identifies cricket’s charming charisma and legacy stretching over centuries. Love the game or not, but admitting to its interesting linguistic endeavor expressed via terms like duck can’t be helped!
