Shreyas Iyer 25 runs from eclipsing Rohit Sharma's India T20I captaincy record

Iyer on the brink of Rohit Sharma's India T20I captaincy run record

As reported on 24 October, Shreyas Iyer was closing in on a slice of India T20I history. The captain needed 25 runs to surpass Rohit Sharma's tally of 656 runs as India's highest-scoring T20I captain in a calendar year, with the opportunity arriving in the second T20I against New Zealand at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.

Iyer, who had taken over the captaincy after India's T20 World Cup triumph, was chasing the unique marker of being the country's most prolific run-scorer as T20I skipper in a single calendar year. The second match of the five-game series, played on 24 October, was his next chance to overhaul Sharma's benchmark.

The men's T20I side had endured a turbulent stretch in the format — whitewashed 4-0 in England and beaten in both Ireland contests while chasing — making the captain's personal milestone a bright spot amid the team's inconsistency.