Shreyas Iyer enters history books, becomes first captain to do so in India-Japan 5 over T20Is

India Captain Shreyas Iyer (Video) Shreyas Iyer became the first captain from a full member to elect to bat first in a five-overs-a-side T20I as India cruised to a historic one-off win over Japan at the Sano International Cricket Ground on Tuesday.The unusual decision came after rain and a wet pitch delayed the toss, originally scheduled for 9:00 IST, forcing the match to be reduced to five overs per side.With each ball carrying even more significance in the shortened contest, Iyer chose to put India into bat first, creating a unique statistical record in T20I cricket.The match itself is a landmark event as India take on Japan for the first time in men’s T20I cricket. It is also part of the celebration of 75 years of diplomatic relations between India and Japan. The game serves as the launch event of “Sport 75”, an initiative designed to promote sporting exchanges and greater cooperation between the two countries.India’s first meeting with Japan added another entry to an impressive record against new opposition.The Indian team won 16 out of 19 matches in their first ever encounter with the opposition. Their only defeats in such encounters came against New Zealand and the West Indies, while their match against Scotland ended in a goalless draw.No other full side has a better record against a new opponent than India in their opening session.India will be hoping to keep the record intact in a competition that has been dramatically curtailed by the weather.India have made some notable short-game selection calls. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi missed out again, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma retained their place at the top of the order. Both the batsmen enter the match in excellent form.Samson has a fifty, while Abhishek comes into the game after making a stunning 30-ball century against Afghanistan. This hundred was the fastest T20I century by a batsman from a full member country.India also opted to retain Jasprit Bumrah for the match against Japan, with Yash Thakur coming into the playing XI.The match is India’s only T20I before the men’s team heads to the Asian Games as the defending champions, adding further significance to an already unusual competition.India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep SinghJapan (Playing XI): Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming(c), Benjamin Ito-Davis, Wataru Miyauchi, Alexander Shirai-Patmore(w), Charlie Hara-Hinze, Ibrahim Takahashi, Declan Suzuki-Shotomater Tancomb