NEW DELHI: Shreyas Iyer’s first outing as India’s T20I captain ended in disappointment on Friday as Ireland stunned the reigning world champions by 34 runs in Belfast, sending the Mumbai batsman to an unwanted place in the record books.With the defeat, Iyer became only the fourth Indian captain to lose his first T20I in charge, joining an unfortunate list that includes Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill.Kohli’s first match as T20I captain ended in defeat against England in Kanpur 2017. Pant suffered the same fate against South Africa in Delhi 2022, while Gill’s captaincy debut ended in defeat against Zimbabwe in Harare 2024. Iyer has now added his name to that list after Ireland’s historic win.The result also marked Ireland’s first win over India in men’s international cricket.
The Indian captains lost their main T20I
- 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 comeback overshadowed by a historic defeat
Ironically, Iyer already entered the match with an outstanding record.The 31-year-old returned to India’s T20I squad after missing 63 consecutive matches since his previous appearance against Australia in December 2023 — the longest break any player has had before captaining the team in T20 internationals.His captaincy debut also brought two more milestones. At 31 years and 202 days, he became the third oldest player to make his T20I captaincy debut for India, behind Shikhar Dhawan and Suryakumar Yadav.Iyer also became the most experienced T20 captain before making his India captaincy debut, having officiated 114 T20 matches in franchise and domestic cricket, ahead of Rohit Sharma (80), Virat Kohli (72) and KL Rahul (42).
Irish debutants steal the show
However, the records meant little when the action began.Asked to bat first, Ireland recovered brilliantly from 51 for 4 to 182 for 9, thanks to a fluent 50 from captain Lorcan Tucker and 49 from Gareth Delany.India’s chase never gained momentum despite Abhishek Sharma’s explosive 50. Ireland’s debutants proved to be the difference as India-born Jai Moondra 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 to spare, giving Ireland one of the biggest victories in their cricketing history.
