Shreyas Iyer (Image credit: BCCI)
New Delhi: Shreyas Iyer’s first outing as India’s T20I captain ended disappointingly on Friday as Ireland stunned the reigning world champions by 34 runs in Belfast, sending the Mumbai side to an unwanted place in the record books.With the defeat, Iyer became the fourth Indian captain to miss his first T20I, joining an unfortunate list that includes Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill.
Kohli’s first match as captain ended in a T20I defeat to England in Kanpur in 2017. Pant suffered the same fate against South Africa in Delhi in 2022, while Gill’s first T20I match ended in a defeat to Zimbabwe in Harare in 2024. Iyer has now added his name to that list following Ireland’s historic win.The result was also Ireland’s first ever win over India in men’s international cricket.
Indian captains lose first T20I in charge
- Virat Kohli vs England in Kanpur 2017
- Rishabh Pant vs South Africa in Delhi 2022
- Shubman Gill vs Zimbabwe in Harare 2024
- Shreyas Iyer vs Ireland in Belfast 2026
A historic return was overshadowed by a historic defeat
Ironically, Eyre entered the match with an impressive record already to his name.The 31-year-old returns to the Indian T20I squad after missing 63 consecutive matches since his previous appearance against Australia in December 2023 – the longest gap for any player before captaining the national team in T20 internationals.
His captaincy debut also brought other mentors. At 31 years and 202 days, he became the third-oldest player to make his debut for India in a T20I, behind Shikhar Dhawan and Suryakumar Yadav.Iyer also became the most experienced T20 captain before making his debut as captain for Team India, having captained 114 T20 matches across franchise and domestic cricket, ahead of Rohit Sharma (80), Virat Kohli (72) and KL Rahul (42).
Ireland’s newcomers are stealing the show
However, the records were of little importance once the procedure began.When asked to bat first, Ireland recovered brilliantly from 51 for 4 to 182 for 9, thanks to captain Lorcan Tucker’s fluent 50 and Gareth Delaney’s 49.India’s chase never gained momentum despite Abhishek Sharma’s explosive 50. Irish debutants proved to be the difference as India-born left-arm spinner Jay Mundra took 2 for 25, while Matt Hollard impressed with 3 for 28 to spark a batting collapse.India were eventually bowled out for 148 with seven balls remaining, giving Ireland one of the greatest victories in cricket history.