Shreyas Iyer Breaks Record as India’s T20 Captain
Indian T20I captain Shreyas Iyer reached a notable milestone during the second T20I against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Iyer became the first captain in T20I cricket to win 11 of his first 12 tosses.
Iyer has had a mixed start to his time as India’s T20I captain. He took over the leadership role earlier this year after Suryakumar Yadav was dropped from the team following India’s 2026 T20 World Cup victory.
His first few series as captain were difficult, as India suffered series defeats against Ireland and England. However, Iyer helped the team bounce back strongly against Zimbabwe, where India completed a convincing 3-0 series victory.
India also made a winning start to the ongoing T20I series against Afghanistan. The Indian team won the opening match by seven wickets and entered the second game with a 1-0 lead.
Iyer’s latest toss win moved him ahead of Qatar’s Mirza Baig and the Philippines’ Henry Tyler. Both had previously won 10 of their first 12 T20I tosses. Among captains from full-member cricket nations, England’s Eoin Morgan and Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah Riyad are next on the list, with nine toss victories each.
Some well-known T20I captains have had far fewer toss wins. Former India captain Virat Kohli, Bangladesh’s Liton Das and West Indies’ Shai Hope each recorded only two toss victories during their time as T20I captains. None of the three currently leads their respective team in T20I cricket.
For the second match against Afghanistan, Iyer won the toss and decided to field first. India made one change to the playing XI because of an injury. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi came into the team in place of Varun Chakravarthy, who was ruled out after suffering a side strain during the first match.
India’s playing XI included wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, captain Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi.
Afghanistan’s side featured wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, captain Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Gulbadin Naib, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Fazalhaq Farooqi.
With India already leading the series 1-0, the second match provided another opportunity for Iyer and his team to strengthen their position against Afghanistan. His record-breaking toss achievement also added an unusual milestone to his early period as India’s T20I captain.