When Shreyas Iyer was appointed the India T20I captain, there was a sense of optimism amongst the Indian fans. Iyer had done well as the Punjab Kings captain and also won the IPL with the Kolkata Knight Riders; hence, his T20I captaincy appointment was met with positivity.
However, his maiden assignment as the T20I skipper turned into a nightmare as the Men in Blue suffered a humiliating defeat in the first T20I match against Ireland on Friday. Chasing 183, the Indian batters crumbled under pressure as Iyer’s reign started with an embarrassing loss.
Shreyas Iyer himself failed with the bat as he scored just 3 off 7 balls before Matt Hollard took his prized wicket and sent the Indian skipper back to the pavilion. The right-handed batter was expected to deliver the goods against the Ireland attack, but he couldn’t as India lost the first T20I.
With a single-digit score, Iyer created an unwanted feat never achieved by an Indian captain.
Shreyas Iyer hits new low in 1st T20I Vs Ireland
Shreyas Iyer became the first Indian batter to be dismissed for a single-digit score on T20I captaincy debut.
All the Indian captains before him had crossed double digits, but Iyer became the first skipper to attain this unwanted feat as captain.
On his captaincy debut, Shreyas Iyer flicked a fuller-length ball on the leg side, and the fielder at deep square leg took a simple catch as Hollard dismissed the Indian captain for just 3 runs, and this created an unfortunate record for the 31-year-old.
Indian T20I captains score on captaincy debut
Indian captains
Score
Opponent
Virender Sehwag
34
South Africa
MS Dhoni
33
Pakistan
Suresh Raina
28
Zimbabwe
Ajinkya Rahane
33
Zimbabwe
Virat Kohli
29
England
Rohit Sharma
17
Sri Lanka
Shikhar Dhawan
46
Sri Lanka
Rishabh Pant
29
South Africa
Hardik Pandya
24
Ireland
KL Rahul
62
Afghanistan
Ruturaj Gaikwad
25
Nepal
Suryakumar Yadav
80
Australia
Shubman Gill
31
Zimbabwe
Shreyas Iyer
3
Ireland
(Indian batters scores on T20I captaincy debut)
While Iyer registered the lowest score by an Indian captain on T20I batting debut, the highest score was reserved for Suryakumar Yadav, who smacked a brilliant 80 against Australia. The only other captain apart from him to score a fifty on captaincy debut was KL Rahul, who scored 62 against the Afghanistan side.
The ‘big three’ of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma, also crossed the double-digit scores, as Kohli accumulated 29 against England, while MSD slammed 33 against Pakistan, and Rohit hit 17 vs Sri Lanka.
Shreyas Iyer's struggles in T20Is
Prior to the Ireland T20I game, Shreyas Iyer last featured for India in T20Is in 2023. Since then, he has been out of the side as the middle-order batter was ignored for the T20 World Cups in 2024, and 2026.
He has represented India in 52 T20I games and has accumulated 1107 runs, with a strike rate of 135.33. The strike rate came under scrutiny as he was dropped from the T20I team. The batter worked hard on his game, and made a comeback in the side for the Ireland tour, but the same old story repeated as he failed to deliver the goods.
He'll be eager to put on a better show when India collides with Ireland in the second T20I on Sunday.
![Shreyas Iyer creates unwanted feat [Source: AFP]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1782541164218_ShreyasIyercreatesunwantedfeat.jpg?type=hq)
Shreyas Iyer creates unwanted feat [Source: AFP]
