Shreyas Iyer scores maiden T20I century as India beat West Indies by eight wickets in Lucknow
Shreyas Iyer reached his first T20 International century as India defeated West Indies by eight wickets in the first of five T20Is in Lucknow on October 6, 2026. He completed the hundred off the penultimate ball of the chase, having put together a match‑deciding partnership with Ishan Kishan.
Shreyas returned to India’s T20 setup after more than two and a half years out of the format following December 2023, a period during which he missed India’s back‑to‑back World Cup triumphs. Between that hiatus and his recall he captained Kolkata Knight Riders to the 2024 IPL title and led Punjab Kings to the 2025 IPL final, and he had amassed 150 international appearances across all three formats before the recent run of matches.
The change at the top of India’s T20 structure preceded Shreyas’s recall: Suryakumar Yadav was appointed captain in July 2024 to succeed Rohit Sharma, and India successfully defended the T20 World Cup at home in February–March 2026. Rohit announced his T20I retirement shortly after that victory; Virat Kohli had already retired from T20Is, and Ravindra Jadeja retired the following day, prompting a selection reset overseen by chief selector Ajit Agarkar and new head coach Gautam Gambhir after Rahul Dravid’s extension ended with the World Cup.
Shreyas’s initial reintroduction to the T20 side produced mixed results. India lost 2-0 to Ireland and then lost a five‑match series in England 4-0 with the first game abandoned, while Shreyas posted scores of 68, 37, 5, 80 not out and 28 in that England sequence. The team’s performances improved after a July tour to Harare, from which India embarked on a run of 10 consecutive wins that carried into the autumn.
That winning sequence included a 3-0 series win over Zimbabwe, a 3-0 victory over Afghanistan in Delhi and a narrow two‑run win over Japan in Sano at the Asian Games, a five‑over fixture played on a slow pitch where all 10 overs were bowled by spinners and India scored 32 and restricted Japan to 30. India then defended their Asian Games gold with a win over Pakistan in Nisshin on October 3; Shreyas became the second Indian, after Ruturaj Gaikwad, to captain the side to Asiad gold, and the squad for the final featured Jasprit Bumrah.
In Lucknow, India’s bowlers dismissed West Indies for 171 before the chase. India were 35 for two early on, but a third‑wicket partnership of an unbroken 137 between Shreyas and Ishan Kishan ended the contest. Shreyas reached his hundred in 42 deliveries and completed the innings with an aggressive middle phase that included six sixes during a stretch in which he took 14 balls for his second fifty of the knock.
The century was Shreyas’s first at T20I level and came in his 64th attempt to reach three figures, with the No. 4 position firmly established — he has batted there in all 17 innings since taking on the captaincy. He had produced a string of useful contributions in the run of victories that preceded Lucknow, registering five scores in the 20s during that spell, but the hundred was his first definitive T20 innings since returning to the format after the December 2023 omission.
The Lucknow game was the opening match of a five‑match series between India and West Indies in which India have four remaining fixtures to play.
