That Shreyas Iyer’s T20I captaincy stint has got off to a disastrous start would be an understatement. He has led the Men in Blue in six matches so far and is yet to taste victory as leader. India have lost five of the six matches, while one game produced no result due to rain.
Shreyas made his captaincy debut in Ireland in what was expected to be an easy series for the Men in Blue. However, the Irish side stunned the Men in Blue to pull off a historic 2-0 series win. A shocked India soon arrived in England and their form went from bad to worse. They are 0-3 down in the five-match series. In the last two games, they have been thumped by 125 runs and nine wickets, respectively.
In the wake of Shreyas’ poor start to his T20I leadership stint, we take a look at how Indian captains before him had fared after being in charge for six matches.
MS Dhoni (3-1)
MS Dhoni made his T20I captaincy debut in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 held in South Africa. Of his first six matches as captain in T20Is, he won three and lost just one, while one match ended in a tie and one produced no result.
His first match as captain was against Scotland in Durban. The game produced no result due to rain. India tied with Pakistan at the same venue, but famously won the bowl out.
India’s lost the next match to New Zealand in Johannesburg by 10 runs, but went on to beat England by 18 runs in Durban and also got the better of hosts South Africa by 37 runs at the same venue. The Dhoni-led squad also registered a memorable 15-run victory against Australia in the second semifinal.
Virat Kohli (4-2)
Virat Kohli took over the T20I captaincy from Dhoni at the start of 2017. Of his first six T20I matches as captain, Kohli won four and lost two. His first stint as leader in the format was a three-match series at home against England, which the Men in Blue went on to win 2-1.
Kohli lost his first T20I as captain as England registered a seven-wicket win in Kanpur. The Men in Blue, however, recovered impressively to clinch the series. They beat England by five runs in Nagpur and by 75 runs in Bengaluru.
Kohli led India in the only T20I against the West Indies in Kingston in July. The Men in Blue, however, got hammered by nine wickets. Kohli was the Player of the Match for his 82 off 54 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the only T20I in Colombo in September. Team India then hammered Australia by nine wickets in the 1st T20I in Ranchi in October.
Rohit Sharma (5-1)
Rohit Sharma made his T20I captaincy debut in December 2017. India won five of the first six matches he led in, losing only one. The Hitman first captained India in T20Is in a three-match series against Sri Lanka at home, with the Men in Blue registering a 3-0 win.
India won the first match of the series in Cuttack by 93 runs. Rohit led from the front with 118 off 43 balls as India won the second T20I in Indore by 88 runs. The hosts won the third T20I at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai by five wickets.
Rohit next led India against South Africa in Cape Town in February 2018. The Men in Blue won this game by seven runs. Rohit was out for a duck in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Colombo in March 2018, a game India lost by five wickets. India then beat Bangladesh by six wickets in Colombo in the second match of the Nidahas Trophy.
Hardik Pandya (5-0)
All-rounder Hardik Pandya made his T20I captaincy debut against Ireland in June 2022. Team India won five of the first six matches he led in, while one T20I contest ended in a tie.
Pandya’s T20I captaincy stint began with a 2-0 win in Dublin against Ireland. India won the first T20I by seven wickets and the second by four runs. Pandya next led India against the West Indies in Lauderhill in the fifth T20I in August 2022. India thumped the Windies by 88 runs.
(Indian captains’ win-loss record after first six T20Is in charge)
Pandya captained India in New Zealand in November 2022. The first T20I was abandoned, while India won the second match by 65 runs in Mount Maunganui. The next match in Napier ended in a tie (DLS method). India then beat Sri Lanka by two runs at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in the first T20I in January 2023.
Suryakumar Yadav (4-2)
Suryakumar Yadav made his T20I captaincy debut in November 2023, just days after India’s heartbreak in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia. He led the Men in Blue in a five-match series at home, which India won 4-1.
Suryakumar scored 80 off 43 as India won the first T20I in Visakhapatnam by two wickets. They also won the second T20I in Thiruvananthapuram by 44 runs before Australia won the third match in Guwahati by five wickets. India won the series by registering wins in Raipur (20 runs) and Bengaluru (6 runs). Under Suryakumar, went down to South Africa in Gqeberha by five wickets in December 2023.
Edited by Renin Wilben Albert