'Sarpanch' Shreyas Iyer surpasses Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli's first match record as India captain becomes…

Shreyas Iyer began his tenure as India’s T20I captain with a record already to his name. When he took the toss in the opening T20I against Ireland in Belfast on Friday, he became the leading player in the most T20s before making his India captaincy debut in the format.Going into the toss against Ireland in Belfast on Friday, Iyer had already led 114 T20 matches across franchise and domestic cricket – the most by an Indian before taking charge of the national side in the format.Leader in most T20s at the time of India’s T20I captaincy debut

114 Shreyas Iyer
80 Rohit Sharma
72 Virat Kohli
42 KL Satisfied
30 Rishabh Pant
21 Shikhar Dhawan

In the draw, Iyer chose to field first in the cricket club for the Civil Service. India fielded three specialist fast bowlers, one pace bowler all-rounder and two spinners.Teenage batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was not included in the playing eleven despite expectations that he could make his international debut.Explaining his decision, Iyer said, “Unfortunately not (Sooryavanshi’s debut). He is a weapons player but we have some great players who have done well 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). Rounding out the top five are Rohit Sharma (30 years, 234 days) and KL Rahul (30 years, 143 days).Oldest at the time of India captain’s T20I debut

35 years 232d Shikhar Dhawan
33 years 70d Suryakumar Yadav
31 years 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 1,104 runs at a strike rate of 136.12.