Shreyas Iyer joins Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill on the unwanted list after Ireland script historic upset | Cricket News:

Shreyas Iyer (Pic credit: BCCI)

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, handing the Mumbai batter an unwanted place in the record books.With the loss, Iyer became 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 in Kanpur in 2017. Pant suffered the same fate against South Africa in Delhi in 2022, while Gill’s captaincy debut ended in defeat to Zimbabwe in Harare in 2024. Iyer now adds his name to that list after Ireland’s historic win.The result also marked Ireland’s first ever victory over India in men’s international cricket.

The Indian captains lost their maiden T20I in charge

Historic comeback overshadowed by historic defeat

Surprisingly, Iyer came into the match with an amazing record to his name.The 31-year-old returns to India’s T20I side after missing 63 consecutive matches since his last 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, leading 114 T20 matches across franchise and domestic cricket, ahead of Rohit Sharma (80), Virat Kohli (72) and KL Rahul (42).

Ireland’s debutants stole the show

However, records count for less when the action begins.Asked to bat first, Ireland recovered well from 51 for 4 to post 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 left-arm pacer Jai Moondra claimed 2 for 25, while Matt Hollard impressed with 3 for 28 to cause a batting collapse.India were eventually bowled out for 148 with seven balls to spare, handing Ireland one of the biggest victories in their cricket history.