Shreyas Iyer began his tenure as India’s T20I captain with the record he already holds. When he got out of the toss in the first T20I against Ireland in Belfast on Friday, he became the man with the lead in most T20s before making his captaincy debut for India in that format.When he walked out of the draw against Ireland in Belfast on Friday, Iyer had already captained 114 T20 matches in franchise and domestic cricket – the most by an Indian before taking over the national team in the format.Leading in most T20s at the time of India’s T20I captaincy debut
- 114 Shreyas Iyer
- 80 Rohit Sharma
- 72 Virat Kohli
- 42 KL Rahul
- 30 Rishabh Pant
- 21 Shikhar Dhawan
At the toss, Iyer picked the top spot in the Civil Service Cricket Club. India fielded three specialist fast bowlers, one all-rounder and two spinners.Teenage batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was not included in the playing XI despite expectations that he could make his international debut.Explaining the decision, Iyer said: “Unfortunately, not (Sooryavanshi’s debut). He is a top player but we have some great players who have been good for us so we are backing them. He will get his chance when the time comes,” backing the opening combination of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.At 31 years and 202 days, Iyer also became the third oldest player to make his T20I captaincy debut for India, behind Shikhar Dhawan (35 years, 232 days) and Suryakumar Yadav (33 years, 70 days). Rohit Sharma (30 years, 234 days) and KL Rahul (30 years, 143 days) complete the top five.Oldest at the time of India’s T20I captaincy debut
- 35y 232d Shikhar Dhawan
- 33y 70d Suryakumar Yadav
- 31y 202d Shreyas Iyer *
- 30y 234d Rohit Sharma
- 30y 143d KL Rahul
Iyer made his T20I debut against New Zealand in 2017. In 52 T20 Internationals, he scored 1104 runs at a strike rate of 136.12.
