Worst starts by India men's T20I captains: Where Shreyas Iyer ranks among MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and others
· Yahoo Sports
Worst starts by India men's T20I captains: Where Shreyas Iyer ranks among MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and others originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Visit esporist.com for more information.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Shreyas Iyer suffers sixth loss in seven games, fastest for any India T20I captain.
- India lose No.1 T20I ranking and drop second consecutive bilateral series.
- Globally, captains from Pakistan and Bangladesh have endured similarly rough starts.
Shreyas Iyer's rocky start becomes the worst ever for an Indian T20I captain
What was meant to signal a fresh chapter for Indian T20 cricket has instead turned into one of its most turbulent beginnings. Shreyas Iyer took over the reins from Suryakumar Yadav with hopes of building on India's World Cup triumph, but that transition has proven far rockier than anyone anticipated.
Six completed matches into his captaincy across tours of Ireland and England, Iyer remains without a single win. That record extends India's losing run with a 56-run defeat in Southampton.
The result also cost India their number one spot in the T20I team rankings, handing the top position over to England.
They were put to chase a daunting 258 in the fifth T20I for a consolation win. However, the chase unravelled through repeated clusters of wickets, despite batting on what was arguably the best surface of the entire series.
BCCI/Creimas
How Shreyas Iyer's start compares to past Indian captains
The Southampton defeat marked Iyer's sixth loss in just seven matches as captain, making it the quickest any Indian skipper has reached that unwanted tally.
Virat Kohli took 12 matches to suffer his fifth defeat; MS Dhoni needed 15; Hardik Pandya required 16. In comparison, both Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav took as many as 31 matches to reach that same mark.
MORE: Harry Brook's side ends world champions India's 1,605-day reign as No. 1 ranked T20I side
Serial No.CaptainTenureMatches to 5th loss (or early record if fewer than 5 losses)Notes1Virender Sehwag2006Never lost (1W in only match)Won by six wickets vs South Africa on debut2MS Dhoni2007–1615 matchesFirst five: 3W-1L-1NR at the 2007 World Cup3Suresh Raina2010–11 (interim)Never lost (3W in 3 matches)4Ajinkya Rahane2015 (interim)1W-1L in only 2 matchesvs Zimbabwe5Virat Kohli2017–2112 matchesFirst five: 3W-2L6Shikhar Dhawan2021 (stand-in)1W-2L in only 3 matchesvs Sri Lanka7Rohit Sharma2021–2431 matchesFirst five: 5W-0L8Rishabh Pant2022 (stand-in)2W-2L-1NR in only 5 matchesvs South Africa, series drawn 2-29Hardik Pandya2022–2316 matchesStarted 2W (vs Ireland); full tenure 10W-5L-1T in 1610KL Rahul2022Never lost (1W in only match)vs Afghanistan, Asia Cup11Jasprit Bumrah2023Never lost (2W in 2 matches)vs Ireland12Ruturaj Gaikwad2023Never lost (2W-0L-1NR in 3 matches)Asian Games gold, Hangzhou13Suryakumar Yadav2023–2631 matchesFirst five: 4W-1L14Shubman Gill20244W-1L in only 5 matchesLost opener to Zimbabwe, won next four15Shreyas Iyer2026–present6 matchesFastest to five losses; only NR came in betweenHow does Shreyas Iyer fare when compared to global records?
While Iyer's start stands as the toughest ever for an Indian T20I captain, similar difficult beginnings have occurred elsewhere in the sport.
Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan lost his opening four matches as captain and was removed from the role before even reaching a fifth game.
Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan had to wait until his seventh match to register his first win, meaning he endured six consecutive winless games.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Thisara Perera, Brendan Taylor and Matthew Wade also all failed to win any of their opening four T20Is as captains, a group Iyer had already joined before his losing streak extended further in Bristol.
The BCCI has already confirmed that they would hold a review meeting after the ODI series concludes, and it remains to be seen if the board continues to back Iyer after this massive debacle.
For all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary and to share your voice, head to our Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) pages.