India's newly appointed T20I captain Shreyas Iyer finally celebrated his first victory as India's T20I captain after taking the side to a commanding seven-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the opening match of the three-game series at Harare on Thursday. The convincing performance not only gave India a 1-0 lead but also created an important milestone in Iyer's captaincy journey after a tumultuous start. Iyer endured a frustrating start to his tenure as captain, with India failing to register a win during the tours of Ireland and England, losing the Ireland series 2-0 before suffering a 4-0 defeat in England, with one match washed out by rain.
Apart from securing his maiden victory as captain, Iyer also registered a personal milestone. By winning the toss once again, he became the first men's T20I captain in international cricket to win the toss in each of his first eight matches in charge. The achievement helped him surpass the previous record of seven consecutive toss wins held by Bahamas captain Gregory Taylor. Among Indian captains, the previous record belonged to legendary skipper MS Dhoni, who had won seven successive tosses in T20 Internationals between 2010 and 2012.
Talking about the match, India's chase of 126 was almost a one-sided affair after teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi blasted an 18-ball half-century. Later, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan scored 28* and 35, respectively, to fire the side to victory. Earlier, after asking Zimbabwe to bat, India limited Zimbabwe 125/7 in 20 overs.