Shreyas Iyer joins this unwanted list of captains: Details
What's the story
Shreyas Iyer's wait for his first win as India's T20I captain continues. The latest defeat came against England in the fifth and final T20I at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. The loss was India's seventh consecutive defeat under Iyer's captaincy, a record that puts him in an unwanted club of Full Member skippers who lost their first seven matches in charge.
Captaincy record
Iyer joins this list
Before Iyer, only Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor, Elton Chigumbura, and Sri Lanka's Thisara Perera had a similar start to their T20I captaincy careers, as per Cricbuzz. England completed a dominant 4-0 series sweep after posting a daunting 257 for three. Jos Buttler scored a stunning 131 off just 64 balls while Harry Brook remained unbeaten on 95 off just 45 deliveries. The duo put together an astonishing second-wicket partnership of 233 runs, the highest in men's T20I history.
Match performance
A look at the match summary
India's bowlers struggled to contain the English batsmen, with Axar Patel conceding 63 runs in four overs and Prince Yadav giving away 60 runs. Debutant Suryansh Shedge also faced a tough outing after being included in the side following Harshit Rana's injury. In response to England's mammoth target of 258 runs, India put up their best batting display on this tour but fell short at 201 for eight.
Tour outcome
End of No.1 ranking for India
The defeat in the final T20I capped a disappointing tour for India, who failed to win a single T20I under Iyer's captaincy. England's victory also ended India's 1,601-day reign at the top of the ICC men's T20I team rankings. The result marks another disappointment for Iyer as he continues his search for a first T20I victory after seven matches without one.
Iyer
Terrible start to the Iyer era
This is India's second straight series loss after being whitewashed by Ireland earlier this month. Notably, Iyer was appointed as India's new T20I skipper ahead of the Ireland series. After losing both their games against Ireland, the Indian team lost four of the five games against England, while the remaining one got abandoned. Notably, Virat Kohli is the only other Indian captain to lose two consecutive T20I series, having faced similar defeats in 2019 against New Zealand and Australia.