Shreyas Iyer has started his career as India’s T20I captain and he has already created a record. He became the leading player in most T20 matches when he bowed out in the first T20I against Ireland in Belfast on Friday before making his debut for India in that tournament.When Iyer bows out against Ireland in Belfast on Friday, he has captained the team and domestic cricket for 114 T20 games – the most for an Indian before captaining the national team.India T20I captain leads most T20 matches on debut
- 114 Shreyas Iyer
- 80 Rohit Sharma
- 72 Virat Kohli
- 42 Kuala Lumpur Rahul
- 30 Raisa pants
- 21 Shikhar Dhawan
At the toss, Iyer chose to field first at Civil Service Cricket Club. India fielded three specialist fast bowlers, one pace bowling all-rounder and two spin bowlers.Teenage batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was not named in the starting XI despite expectations that he would make his international debut.Explaining the decision, Iyer said, “Unfortunately, there is no (Sooryavanshi debut). He is a gunner, but we have some good players who have contributed brilliantly for us, so we support them. When the time comes, he will get a chance,” supporting the starting combination of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.At the age of 31 years and 202 days, Iyer became the third oldest player in the Indian team to make his T20I captaincy debut, after Shikhar Dhawan (35 years and 232 days) and Suryakumar Yadav (33 years and 70 days). Rohit Sharma (30 years and 234 days) and KL Rahul (30 years and 143 days) round out the top five.India’s oldest T20I captain at the time made his debut
- 35 years 232 days Shikha Dhawan
- 33 years and 70 days old Suryakumar Yadav
- 31 years 202 days Shreyas Iyer*
- 30 years 234 days Rohit Sharma
- 30 years and 143 days in Kuala Lumpur Rahul
Iyer made his T20I debut in 2017 against New Zealand. In 52 T20 internationals, he scored 1,104 runs at a strike rate of 136.12.
