NEW DELHI: Shreyas Iyer’s first outing as India’s T20I captain ended on a disappointing note on Friday as Ireland stunned the reigning world champions by 34 runs in Belfast, consigning the Mumbai batter to an unwanted place in the record books.With the defeat, Iyer became only the fourth Indian captain to lose his maiden 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 at Kanpur in 2017. Pant suffered the same fate against South Africa in Delhi in 2022, while Gill’s captaincy debut ended with a loss to Zimbabwe in Harare in 2024. Iyer has now added his name to that list following Ireland’s historic victory.The result also marked Ireland’s first-ever win over India in men’s international cricket.
Indian captains losing their maiden T20I in charge
- 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
Historic return overshadowed by historic defeat
Ironically, Iyer had entered the match with a remarkable record already to his name.The 31-year-old returned to India’s T20I side after missing 63 consecutive matches since his previous appearance against Australia in December 2023 — the longest gap by any player before captaining a national 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 led 114 T20 matches across franchise and domestic cricket, ahead of Rohit Sharma (80), Virat Kohli (72) and KL Rahul (42).
Ireland’s debutants steal the show
However, the records counted for little once the action began.Asked to bat first, Ireland recovered brilliantly from 51 for 4 to post 182 for 9, thanks to captain Lorcan Tucker’s fluent 50 and Gareth Delany’s 49.India’s chase never gained momentum despite Abhishek Sharma’s explosive 50. Ireland’s debutants proved to be the difference as India-born left-arm pacer Jai Moondra claimed 2 for 25, while Matt Hollard impressed with 3 for 28 to trigger a batting collapse.India were eventually bowled out for 148 with seven balls to spare, handing Ireland one of the greatest victories in their cricket history.
