IRE vs IND | Hardik Pandya becomes the first Indian T20 skipper to achieve unique milestone

Hardik Pandya kicked off his India captaincy stint on a high as the all-rounder led the team to a seven-wicket win over Ireland in the first T20I of the two-match series between the sides in Dublin. 

Chasing a target of 109 in a rain-affected match of 12-overs-per-side, India completed the hunt in just 9.2 overs to take a 1-0 lead against Ireland. 

Hardik Pandya, who has been appointed the skipper of the team, enjoyed a memorable outing in his first match as he led the team from the front and contributed with both bat and ball.

The all-rounder returned with figures of 1/26 in his bowling and became the first-ever Indian captain to pick a wicket in the T20 International (T20I) cricket. Pandya, who came into the attack with the ball in the second over, got rid of experienced Irish batter Paul Stirling, who could have been a significant threat to team India had he got himself set in the middle. 

After conceding a boundary to Stirling, the 28-year-old made a quick comeback and bowled a slightly fuller ball to trap the Ireland batter at mid-off, where Deepak Hooda completed an easy catch. 

For unversed, Hardik Panya is the ninth Indian player to captain the team in the shortest format of the game, and he has etched his name in history books by becoming the only captain to take a wicket in a T20I match. 

Before Hardik, eight players, namely – Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant, had led team India in T20Is. Still, none of them could achieve this milestone. Moreover, while Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have picked up wickets in this format, those didn't come during their captaincy tenure.

The Baroda-all-rounder made his captaincy debut in the latest edition of the Indian Premier League 2022. He impressed with his man-management skills, leading Gujarat Titans to the IPL title in their debut season. 

On the back of his impressive performance as the leader in IPL 2022, he was chosen as a deputy to Rishabh Pant in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against South Africa at home, which ended in a 2-2 draw. 

"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 Pandya in a post-match presentation.

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