Hardik Pandya Becomes First Indian Captain To Achieve This Feat During India vs Ireland 1st T20I

Hardik Pandya on Sunday led the Indian team to a seven-wicket win over Ireland in the first match of the two-match series between the sides in Dublin. This was the first time Hardik Pandya was captaining the Indian team. The all-rounder made the moment further memorable by returning figures of 1/26 in his bowling and then scoring 24 off 12 with the bat. The lone dismissal Hardik effected in the game saw him becoming the first India captain to take a T20I wicket.

Before Hardik, eight players captained India but none of them took a wicket. The players are Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant.

Talking about the match on Sunday, Ireland opted to bat first after winning the toss. Riding on Harry Tector's unbeaten 64 off 33, the hosts posted 108/4 in the rail-curtailed match that was reduced to 12 overs a side. For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik, Avesh Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal took a wicket each.

In return, Deepak Hooda's 47 not out off 29 balls, alongside Ishan Kishan's 26 off 11 and Hardik's 24 off 12 helped India reach home with seven wickets in hand and 16 balls to spare.

"Great to start a series with a win. For us, as a team, it's very important to start with a win. Quite happy with it," said Hardik in a post-match presentation.

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"Ireland batted fantastically, had to go back to our main bowlers... Some of the shots he (Harry Tector) played were mindblowing," he added.

(With agency inputs)