Shreyas Iyer added a unique milestone to his captaincy career before a ball was bowled in the opening T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare on Thursday. The India skipper won the toss and elected to field first, registering his eighth consecutive win as captain in T20 Internationals and overtaking the former MS captain. Dhoni in the record books.Iyer now holds the record for the most successful toss wins by an Indian captain in T20Is. His streak of eight, which stretches from June to July 2026, surpasses Dhoni’s best of seven achieved between 2010 and 2012. Virat Kohli follows with a six-match winning streak, while Rohit Sharma and Dhoni also have a streak of five.
Most consecutive runs won by an Indian captain in T20Is:
- 8 – Shreyas Iyer (June 2026 – July 2026)
- 7 – MS Dhoni (May 2010 – February 2012)
- 6 – Virat Kohli (August 2019 – December 2019)
- 5 – Rohit Sharma (February 2020 – February 2022)
- 5 – MS Dhoni (September 2007)
After winning the toss, Iyer explained the decision to bowl first, saying the surface seemed to have good pace and bounce.“We have to bowl first. This is my first time here, so I don’t know how the wicket is going to play. But looking at the practice wickets and the practice wickets on the side, there was a decent amount of bounce,” Iyer said.He also praised Zimbabwe’s recent progress, adding: “They have been playing brilliantly for the last few years… The batsmen and bowlers played to their strengths. It was amazing.”Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza admitted the Harare pitch looked different from its usual nature and expected plenty of runs despite an early assist for the tailors.“This is not your typical Harare Sports Club wicket. I think there are a lot of runs on this wicket,” said Raza.India fielded a young XI with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh alongside experienced skipper Iyer. Zimbabwe handed T20I debuts to Newman Nyamhuri and Ben Curran, while Milton Shumba missed the series with a hamstring injury and was replaced in the squad by Innocent Kaia.
ZIM vs IND Playing XI:
Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani (w), Ben Curran, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (c), Ryan Burl, Wessly Madhevere, Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Richard Ngarava, Blessing MuzarabaniIndia: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (w), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav