Shreyas Iyer began his stint as captain of the Indian T20I team with a record already to his name. When he walked out for the toss in the opening T20I against Ireland in Belfast on Friday, he became the player who has captained the most T20s before making his debut as India’s captain in this format.When he walked out for the draw against Ireland in Belfast on Friday, Iyer had already captained 114 T20 matches across franchise and domestic cricket – the most by an Indian before taking charge of the national side in this format.Leader in most T20s at the time of India T20I captaincy debut
- 114 Shreyas Iyer
- 80 Rohit Sharma
- 72 Virat Kohli
- 42 Kuala Lumpur Rahul
- 30 Rishabh Pant
- 21 Shekhar Dhawan
In the draw, Iyer chose to bowl first for the Civil Service Cricket Club. India entered with three specialist fast bowlers, one fast bowler and two spinners.Teenage batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was not included in the playing XI despite expectations that he might make his international debut.“Unfortunately not (Soryavanshi’s debut). He is a gunner but we have some great players who have performed well for us, so we are backing them. He will get his chance when the time comes,” Iyer said explaining the decision, backing the opening line-up of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.
At 31 years and 202 days, Iyer also became the third-oldest player to make his debut for India in a T20I, behind Shikhar Dhawan (35 years and 232 days) and Suryakumar Yadav (33 years and 70 days). Rohit Sharma (30 years, 234 days) and Kal Rahul (30 years, 143 days) completed the top five.Oldest at the time of India T20I captain’s debut
- 35y 232d Shekhar Dhawan
- 33y 70d Suryakumar Yadav
- 31y 202d Shreyas Iyer*
- 30y 234d Rohit Sharma
- 30y 143d Kuala Lumpur Rahul
Iyer made his T20I debut against New Zealand in 2017. In 52 T20 internationals, he has scored 1,104 runs at a strike rate of 136.12.