Shreyas Iyer’s tenure as the captain of the Indian T20I team has gotten off to a troubling start, marked by an unfortunate record. After taking over the leadership from Suryakumar Yadav, Iyer has led India to five consecutive losses, making him the first Indian captain in history to achieve such a dismal feat.
The troubles began during a series against Ireland, where India suffered a humiliating 0-2 defeat. Things didn’t improve on their tour of England either; rain washed out their first match. In the subsequent matches, however, India lost three out of four games. In Bristol, despite Iyer’s commendable contribution of 80 runs off 49 balls—hitting four fours and five sixes—India fell short once again, losing to England by nine wickets.
This latest defeat means that India is now trailing 3-0 in the series. The performance not only raises questions about Iyer’s leadership but also breaks records previously held by cricketing legends MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Before this series, Dhoni was the only Indian captain who had lost four successive matches in T20Is—a record he set twice in his career. Now, Shreyas Iyer stands alone with five straight losses under his belt.
Iyer also broke another record: he became the fastest player to lose five T20I matches as captain, doing so in just six matches compared to Kohli’s twelve and Dhoni’s fifteen.
The team’s struggles have resulted in other discouraging records as well. This marks India’s first loss in a multi-match T20I series against England and their first bilateral series defeat since 2019 against them. Additionally, it is notable that India hasn’t faced back-to-back T20I series losses since then.
The slumping performance at Bristol signifies an end to India’s historical dominance on that ground over the past 27 years.