Shreyas Iyer added a special touch to his captaincy before the ball was bowled in the opening T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare on Thursday. The Indian skipper won the toss and elected to bat first, registering his eighth consecutive win as captain in T20 Internationals and surpassing former captain MS. Dhoni in accounting books.Iyer now holds the record for consecutive wins by India’s captaincy in T20Is. His eighth tournament, from June to July 2026, surpassed Dhoni’s haul of seven between 2010 and 2012. Virat Kohli follows with six consecutive wins, while Rohit Sharma and Dhoni also have five streaks.
Most successful wickets by an Indian captain in T20Is:
- 8 – Shreyas Iyer (June 2026 – July 2026)
- 7 – MS Dhoni (May 2010 – February 2012)
- 6 – Virat Kohli (August 2019 – December 2019)
- 5 – Rohit Sharma (February 2020 – February 2022)
- 5 – MS Dhoni (September 2007)
After winning the toss, Iyer explained the decision to bat first, saying the top seemed to have good movement and bounce.“We will start bowling. This is my first time here, so I don’t know how the wicket will play. But looking at the practice wickets and the participation wickets, there was a decent jump,” Iyer said.He also praised Zimbabwe’s recent performance, adding, “They have been playing amazingly for the last few years… The batsmen and bowlers are playing to their strengths. It was amazing.”Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza admitted that the Harare game looked different from his usual form and expected more runs despite the quick help of the seamers.“This is not your Harare Sports Club wicket. I think there are a lot of runs on this wicket,” said Raza.India fielded a young XI consisting of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh along with experienced skipper Iyer. Zimbabwe have given T20I matches to Newman Nyamhuri and Ben Curran, while Milton Shumba missed the match due to injury and was replaced in the squad by Innocent Kaia.
ZIM vs IND Playing XIs:
Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani(w), Ben Curran, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza(c), Ryan Burl, Wessly Madhevere, Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Richard Ngarava, Blessing MuzarabaniIndia: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav
