Shreyas Iyer finally ended his wait for a victory as India’s T20I captain after leading the side to a convincing seven-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the opening match of the three-game series in Harare on Thursday. The result marked Shreyas’ first win since taking over the captaincy from Suryakumar Yadav earlier this year. India had endured a difficult run under his leadership, beginning with a shock 2-0 series defeat to Ireland before suffering a 4-0 drubbing against England in a five-match T20I series. Former India opener Sadagopan Ramesh said the celebrations following the Zimbabwe win were understandable given the team’s recent struggles, insisting the victory would come as a major relief for the skipper. “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 uploaded on Instagram. Ramesh also reserved praise for VVS Laxman, who is serving as India’s interim head coach for the Zimbabwe tour. He credited the former India batter for consistently delivering positive results whenever he takes charge of the national side. “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. India’s victory was further highlighted by a historic knock from teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The 15-year-old blazed his way to a maiden international half-century in just 18 balls, becoming the youngest player to score a fifty in men’s international cricket. Sooryavanshi reached the milestone at the age of 15 years and 118 days, eclipsing the previous record held by Sachin Tendulkar. The batting great was 16 years and 213 days old when he registered his maiden international fifty against Pakistan in a Test at Faisalabad in 1989.
