3 popular players who led their country in T20I when they were just 21 years old

In recent years, we have seen team managements place confidence in youngsters as the captain of the team. This helps them in focussing on the future while also securing the present. However, there have been instances when a player has captained a team when he is close to 21 years of age. Usually, players take three or four years to settle down in international cricket. However, much before this, a few players got to captain their squads. On that note, in this article, we take a look at three popular players who led their country in T20I when they were just 21 years old.

1) Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) - 20 years 359 days 

 It was way back in 2019 against Zimbabwe that Rashid Khan led his nation in a T20I match. He has achieved so much in the game and Rashid is still very young. After Mohammad Nabi, he might take over the reins again of the Afghanistan Cricket Team.

2) Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal) - 21 years 193 days

Sandeep Lamichhane is one of the popular players who led their country in T20I when they were just 21 years old. It was against Oman in February 2022 that Sandeep made his captaincy debut. He is arguably the best player in the team and hence, he got the chance. However, he has run into controversies and could lose his job soon.

3) Prosper Utseya (Zimbabwe) - 21 years 247 days

In Zimbabwe's first ever T20I encounter, which was against Bangladesh in 2006, it was the young Prosper Utseya who led the team. The player was part of a total of 35 encounters for his side. Zimbabwe had set the trend of appointing young captains because even Tatenta Taibu became a skipper at a young age.