Shreyas Iyer’s T20I captaincy stint began with the T20I series opener against Ireland at Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast on Friday, June 26. The match also marked the return of the right-handed batter in the T20I team after around two and a half years.
The 31-year-old last played a T20I for India on December 3, 2023. Batting at No. 3, he scored 53 runs off 37 balls against Australia at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Iyer made a comeback into the side following his wonderful performances in IPL 2026. He was the second-highest run-getter for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the edition, amassing 498 runs across 13 innings at a strike-rate of 168.81.
He slammed one century and five fifties in the season. The Indian team management backed Iyer to take over the captaincy reins from Suryakumar Yadav after the side’s T20 World Cup 2026 triumph.
It is worth mentioning that at 31 years and 202 days, Iyer is the third-oldest Indian to make a T20I captaincy debut. Shikhar Dhawan (35 years and 232 days) and Suryakumar Yadav (33 years and 70 days) are the oldest and second-oldest, respectively.
Shreyas Iyer wins the toss and elects to field first in IRE vs IND 2026 1st T20I
Shreyas Iyer won the toss for India and chose to field first. The Indian team retained its top-order from the T20 World Cup 2026. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma will continue to open, with Ishan Kishan being the No. 3.
Iyer is likely to bat at No. 4, followed by vice-captain Tilak Varma and all-rounders Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar. The bowling attack includes Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Harshit Rana.
Here are the playing XIs for IRE vs IND 2026 1st T20I:
IRE: Tim Tector, Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker(w/c), Benjamin Calitz, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Liam McCarthy, Matthew Humphreys, Jai Moondra, Matthew Hollard
IND: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai