Shreyas Iyer had failed to register a win in his first assignment as India’s T20I captain on the tour of UK.
Team India outclassed Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the first T20I at Harare Sports Club on Thursday (July 23). The win marked Shreyas Iyer’s first as India’s T20I captain after a run of six defeats.
Shreyas remained winless in his first assignment as India’s T20I captain on the tour of UK. While the Men in Blue suffered a humiliating 2-0 series defeat to Ireland, they failed to register a victory in four completed games against England.
The consecutive series whitewash piled pressure on Iyer, who had replaced Suryakumar Yadav as skipper despite not being part of India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year.
No wonder, former cricketer Sadagoppan Ramesh believes 'Shreyas Iyer will be relieved' by this clinical performance against Zimbabwe.
"Many are saying India shouldn't be so excited for just a win over Zimbabwe. Yet, when you are starving for a victory for so long in T20Is, even leftover food will taste like a wedding meal. Shreyas Iyer will be relieved, considering India's fall under his captaincy. He would have reached a point where a win over anyone would have been enough for him," Ramesh said in a video shared on his Instagram account.
Ramesh also commended VVS Laxman's strong record as India’s interim head coach, especially when the team was on a losing streak.
"VVS Laxman also deserves high praise. India perform well every time he's the head coach. Under him, India seem to always whitewash the opponents, even at a time the other teams are constantly whitewashing India otherwise. It got to the point where India just needed a win of any kind and hence their elation after beating even Zimbabwe," he added.
Meanwhile, India's teenage batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scripted history by becoming the youngest player to score a fifty in men's international cricket after smashing 18-ball half-century against Zimbabwe in the opening T20I.
Sooryavanshi notched up his maiden international fifty at the age of 15 years and 118 days, surpassing the previous record held by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who was 16 years and 213 days old when he hit his maiden international fifty against Pakistan in a Test at Faisalabad in 1989.