Johnathan Campbell, the Zimbabwe all-rounder, joined a rare group of players to lead their side on Test debut. Here's the full list.
Campbell became the 13th to lead Zimbabwe in Test cricket, and the first to do it on debut since Dave Houghton led them in their inaugural Test in 1992. Campbell replaced regular captain Craig Ervine, who withdrew from the Test due to a family emergency.
The 27-year-old Campbell has played nine T20Is for Zimbabwe, all in 2024, and has not made his ODI debut as well. He has played 34 first-class games, having made his debut in 2019.
Incidentally, John's father Alistair was also a Test captain, while his uncle Donald has played first-class cricket in Zimbabwe.
In Bulawayo, Ireland won the toss and opted to bat first.
Full list: Players who captained on their Test debut
| Lord Harris | England | 1879 |
| Ivo Bligh | England | 1882 |
| Aubrey Smith | England | 1889 |
| Alfred Richards | South Africa | 1896 |
| Murray Bisset | South Africa | 1899 |
| Henry Taberer | South Africa | 1902 |
| Biddy Anderson | South Africa | 1902 |
| Percy Sherwell | South Africa | 1906 |
| Henry Leveson Gower | England | 1910 |
| Johnny Douglas | England | 1911 |
| Frank Mann | England | 1922 |
| Rony Stanyforth | England | 1927 |
| Harold Gilligan | England | 1930 |
| Freddie Calthorpe | England | 1930 |
| Nelson Betancourt | West Indies | 1930 |
| Jackie Grant | West Indies | 1930 |
| Herby Wade | South Africa | 1935 |
| Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram | India | 1936 |
| Alan Melville | South Africa | 1938 |
| George Mann | England | 1948 |
| Nigel Howard | England | 1951 |
| Tony Lewis | England | 1972 |
| Lee Germon | New Zealand | 1995 |
| Neil Brand | South Africa | 2024 |
| Johnathan Campbell | Zimbabwe | 2025 |
Note: As an extension of the above list, the following players were their respective teams' first-ever Test captains:
| Dave Gregory | Australia | 1877 |
| James Lillywhite Jr | England | 1877 |
| Owen Dunell | South Africa | 1889 |
| Karl Nunes | West Indies | 1928 |
| Tom Lowry | New Zealand | 1930 |
| CK Nayudu | India | 1932 |
| Bandula Warnapura | Sri Lanka | 1982 |
| Dave Houghton | Zimbabwe | 1992 |
| Naimur Rahman | Bangladesh | 2000 |
| William Porterfield | Ireland | 2018 |
| Asghar Afghan | Afghanistan | 2018 |
*Pakistan's first captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar had already played Tests for India before he led Pakistan in their first ever Test in 1952.
**The father/son duo of Frank Mann and George Mann both led in their first-ever Tests.
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