Who Was The Last Indian Captain To Lose On T20I Captaincy Debut?

Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir [Source: AFP]

For the first time in 19 years, India faced a defeat at the hands of Ireland, as they took on each other at Belfast on Friday afternoon in the first of the two T20Is of the series.

Shreyas Iyer was on his T20I return after almost three years out of the team, but had also replaced the T20 World Cup winner, Suryakumar Yadav, as the team’s captain. His appointment was already under some scrutiny, but Iyer had a chance to shut the haters with a good start before things went south.

Shreyas Iyer’s India captaincy debut disappoints

Having won the toss, Shreyas Iyer asked Ireland to bat first, and the hosts racked up 182/9 from being 51/4 at one stage. Thanks to captain Lorcan Tucker’s 50(36) and Gareth Delany’s 49(32), Ireland carried momentum into the innings break.

In response, India got off to a flying start, thanks to Abhishek Sharma’s 49(20) with 7 fours and two sixes; however, wickets kept falling from the other end, and the T20 World Champions crumbled like a deck of cards to get bowled out for 148 runs in 18.5 overs.

India lost the match by a significant margin of 34 runs, and Shreyas Iyer became only the fourth Indian captain to lose the first T20I in charge.

Also Read: "This Is GG Era": Fans Rage At Shreyas Iyer, Gambhir As India Suffer 1st Ever Defeat vs Ireland

Who was the last Indian player to lose on T20I captaincy debut?

Before Shreyas Iyer lost his match against Ireland in Belfast today, it was Shubman Gill, who was the last Indian captain to lose on his T20I captaincy debut match. It was against Zimbabwe in 2024 when they played at Harare, right after winning the T20 World Cup 2024.

Fresh off the World Cup celebrations, India was expected to brush Zimbabwe aside, and they also restricted the hosts to 115/9 in 20 overs. However, with the bat, things did not go as planned, and India got bowled out for 102 runs in 19.5 overs. Gill had scored 31(29) in the chase.

How have the Indian players performed in the first T20I as captain?

Since India's first T20I match in 2006 against South Africa, only MS Dhoni's first match as T20I captain ended without a result; the rest have had results. Only four, including Shreyas Iyer, have lost on their captaincy debut; the rest have led India to wins in the respective matches.

Check out the record below.

Indian captains of T20I captaincy debut

1. Virender Sehwag- Won

2. MS Dhoni - NR

3. Suresh Raina - Won

4. Ajinkya Rahane - Won

5. Virat Kohli - Lost

6. Rohit Sharma - Won

7. Shikhar Dhawan - Won

8. Rishabh Pant - Lost

9. Hardik Pandya - Won

10. KL Rahul - Won

11. Jasprit Bumrah - Won

12. Ruturaj Gaikwad- Won

13. Suryakumar Yadav - Won

14. Shubman Gill - Lost

15. Shreyas Iyer - Lost

Also Read: All Unwanted Records By India After 1st Ever Defeat vs Ireland On Shreyas Iyer’s Captaincy Debut