Shreyas Iyer made his debut as India’s T20I captain with an already established record. When he came out to bowl the first T20I against Ireland in Belfast on Friday, he had become a key player in many T20s before making his India captaincy debut in style.When he came out to face Ireland in Belfast on Friday, Iyer had already captained 114 T20 matches in franchise and domestic cricket – the most by an Indian before taking charge of the national side.He led in many T20s during India’s T20I captaincy
- 114 Shreyas Iyer
- 80 Rohit Sharma
- 72 Virat Kohli
- 42 KL Rahul
- 30 Rishabh Pant
- 21 Shikhar Dhawan
In this match, Iyer chose to play for the Civil Service Cricket Club for the first time. India went in with three fast bowlers, one all-rounder and two spinners.Young batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was not included in the playing XI though he is expected to make his international debut.Explaining the decision, Iyer said, “Unfortunately not (Sooryavanshi’s start). He is a player but we have great players who have done well for us so we are supporting them. He will get his chance when the time comes,” supporting the opening act of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.At 31 years and 202 days, Iyer also became the oldest player to captain India in T20Is, behind Shikhar Dhawan (35 years, 232 days) and Suryakumar Yadav (33 years, 70 days). Rohit Sharma (30 years, 234 days) and KL Rahul (30 years, 143 days) completed the top five.The oldest during India’s T20I captaincy
- 35y 232d Shikhar Dhawan
- 33y 70d Suryakumar Yadav
- 31y 202d Shreyas Iyer *
- 30y 234d Rohit Sharma
- 30y 143d KL Rahul
Iyer made his T20I debut against New Zealand in 2017. In 52 T20 internationals, he scored 1,104 runs at a rate of 136.12.
